Not Made of Stone
by Contradiction King
Summary: When the teens of Berk fall prey to their biggest challenge yet, will they find the strength and courage to pull through? HiccupxOC Please R&R!   *Also written by silver2018, give her credit too!
1. Chapter 1

Not Made of Stone

(Narrator following Hiccup)

Hiccup sat in the Great Hall eating when he noticed a girl he rarely ever saw stumble in. Even though it was dinner time and already dark outside, she looked like she had just gotten out of bed. But you could never tell with Stone.

She wore her long dirty-blonde hair in a low, messy ponytail. Her clothes consisted of a plain light brown shirt and plain brown pants that had paint smears covering both, giving it what little flair a Viking could. Her skin was pale from hiding off where ever she always did, and she was tall, a good three inches taller than Hiccup. Also, her deep blue eyes, he noticed, had dark purple circles underneath them.

He watched her grab a plate with a single chicken leg on it and stalk back to the corner of the hall where she always sat. Hiccup was no stranger to being an outcast but he never put as much distance between himself with the others then she did and that confused him. Why would she purposely keep herself away from them? They don't bite...well, the twins do, but the rest of them certainly don't. He considered walking over to her and attempting to make a conversation, but he was afraid she'd run. Plus he had been running a lot that afternoon and it wouldn't be smart to stress his metal leg further but trying to stand in front of her for who knew how long.

Not wanting to be caught staring, Hiccup turned back to his own food and attempted to listen to the others chatter. It wasn't easy, but he managed to listen to the conversation and add input without drifting off too many times. When everyone finished he and the others left the Great Hall, all going in their separate directions to get home.

Just as he was about to disappear into the forest next to the hall to go get Toothless from the beach where he liked to stay while Hiccup ate, he heard the door open again. He glanced back and saw Stone slowly making her way out. In one hand she held her sketchbook, which she could be seen scribbling in when and if you ever spotted her, and in the other she clutched the sides of her forehead. Her grip was so tight that her normally pale hand was almost sickly white. She stumbled off in the same direction he was, apparently not noticing him.

Hiccup scrambled as quietly as he could with his sore metal foot into the dark so she wouldn't see him if she happened to glance up. She walked right past him and down the hill that the Great Hall was perched on. Hiccup followed silently behind her for awhile just a few yards behind when Stone suddenly stopped, her shoulder shaking uncontrollably. He was surprised when she stopped but even more surprised when she yelled out, rearing her head back. Her face glistened with tears under the moonlight but Hiccup only saw Stone's face for half a second since she immediately starting running down the hill after her yell.

Hiccup chased after her as quietly and as quickly as he possibly could. She had both arms wrapped around her head, her sketchbook pressed up against the back of her head. Since she wasn't watching where she was going, she headed right toward a patch of small but sharp rocks. Hiccup was about to call out to her, to tell her to stop, to watch out, to ANYTHING, but it was too late. Stone tripped over one of the rocks, flipped head over heels and landed with a thump on her back atop the rocks. She groaned and unraveled her arms and lay there, completely still.

"Are you alright?!" Hiccup called, rushing to her side. She flinched and looked back at him. When she saw him she groaned and looked away.

"How long have you been following me?" she asked, her normally steady voice strained from the tears she had shed.

"The whole time," Hiccup responded honestly. "What's wrong with your head?"

Instead of answering she just groaned and rolled over, revealing a spot in her lower back that gushed blood. One of the rocks she landed on had pierced right through her skin.

Hiccup gasped and reached out to put pressure on the wound but she was already almost fully standing. Stone had her arm wrapped around her middle and was easily slowing the blood flow herself. Before Hiccup could say another word Stone was walking away, seemingly un-phased by the deep hole in her back.

"Hey, stop, wait a minute!" Hiccup called to her but she didn't respond in any way. He quickly got up, hobbled as fast as he could and grabbed her free arm, the one loosely holding her sketchbook.

Stone turned to glare down at him as she pulled her arm from his grasp.

"Leave me alone," she growled. Hiccup felt fear course through him but not nearly as much fear as he got from Astrid when she threatened him with her battle axe.

"No, I want to help you," he insisted. Her glare only increased and she started walking away again.

"You never cared about my pain before so why care now?" she demanded.

"You people see me in pain constantly but none of you ever care," she said, turned back to him. Hiccup swore that if looks could kill he would be turned to smoldering ash by the look she gave him.

"What do you mean? I've never noticed you in pain before that," Hiccup said as he pointed to her lower back.

"This," she also pointed to her lower back, "doesn't hurt. Not compared to the pain I was going through before I tripped."

"What do you mean?" Hiccup asked with genuine curiosity. Stone looked away, her eyes taking on a slightly hollow look.

"…Can we continue this chat later? I don't really want to die by tripping over a rock and loosing too much blood."

"Oh, of course we can! Let's go to the village doctor. Do you think she's still awake?" Stone looked up to the sky, toward the moon, and nodded.

They walked in silence that was only occasionally broken by Stone hissing in pain or Hiccup wincing quietly when he stepped on his left leg too hard. After several long, awkward minutes, they made it to the doctor's office. Candle light could be seen through some of the windows so they knew she was there.

Stone walked up to the door, but before she knocked she looked over at Hiccup.

"You can go now you know," she said, sounding like she desperately wanted him to leave. Hiccup ignored the pleading of her voice and shook his head.

"No, I want to make sure you're alright." Stone scoffed quietly but didn't press him any further. She reached out and knocked. _Thump thump thump_, pause, _thump thump_. The doctor immediately rushed to the door and opened it quickly, looking Stone up and down franticly.

The doctor was a muscled woman with long red hair who could have been seen on the battlefield when dragons were our enemies, either treating a patient or battling. Rumor said that she had taken Stone in as her apprentice and that she was as close to Stone as Gobber was to Hiccup.

"Stone, I told you only to use that knock during emergencies!" she sounded exasperated but relieved at the same time. Stone didn't reply except to turn slightly and move her arm, exposing the gash to the doctor. The doctor gasped and took her inside.

Hiccup stood unsure in the door way, watching the doctor rush around, getting bandages and water, before speaking up.

"Uh, Ms. Heinrickson, is there anyway I can help?" Ms. Heinrickson stopped her flurry of activity to look at Hiccup and grant him with an answer.

"You? No, this is going to require advanced medical training, not dragon riding skills. Wait outside the door if you want, but come in here and I'll snap your head off and then sew it back on sideways!"

Hiccup rushed outside, closing the door behind him. He sat down on the porch step and leaned his ear against the door. All he could currently hear was the rustle of clothing and what sounded like a rag being dipped in water.

"So, what'd you do this time? And how did Hiccup, of all people, get mixed into all of this?" Hiccup heard Ms. Heinrickson ask Stone.

"Erm, you don't think he can hear us do you?"

"Nah, Hiccup's many things but I don't think he'd try to listen in on someone." Hiccup suddenly felt very dirty but he didn't move. He wanted to know what was wrong with her head and had a strong feeling that one of them would mention it.

"It happened again. It's been happening daily now," Stone's voice suddenly sounded strained to Hiccup. "I...I don't know how to deal with it anymore!" From what Hiccup could tell, Stone had burst into tears and Ms. Heinrickson was doing her best to comfort her. It took all Hiccup had not to run in and try to help. He couldn't understand why, but he wanted her to be happy.

Once Stone calmed down, Ms. Heinrickson continued to treat the wound. Hiccup didn't know what she was doing exactly, but he was pretty sure that she had cleaned the gash, sewn it shut, and was now wrapping it, all in only a matter of minutes.

"Done! That should hold for a couple days. Don't bend down a lot or you'll stress the stitches. Now, we should talk more about this problem you are having. I've never heard of a Viking getting these as often as you do so we may as well call them chronic…."

They chatted for twenty minutes, blathering on and on about different pain relievers that they could try, but not once did they say what the actual problem was. Hiccup was getting frustrated but then they starting talking about something that made him press his ear closer to the door. They started talking about him.

"So how DID Hiccup get involved in this? He's the slayer of the Green Death; you'd think he'd be busier with other stuff."

"Yeah I thought that he would ignore me like the rest of the village. But no, he followed me and saw me yell, run, and trip over those stupid rocks. He's in pain himself yet he still chased after me. It doesn't make sense, why would he want to help me?" Stone's words surprised Hiccup. How did she know _he_ was in pain when he didn't notice her pain until today? He had thought he had been hiding his pain so well, not even his not-exactly-girlfriend, Astrid, had noticed.

"He's in pain? Well only someone who is in constant pain like you could see the signs, not even I have noticed anything troubling the boy. And so what if he wants to help you? Sure, it's not the Viking way but, if you haven't noticed, neither of you are very Viking-ish. Yes he saved our village from hating dragons and you are the best shield and sail designer our village has ever had, but you both have no skills on the battle field."

"But how do I get him to understand? If I told someone I suffered from…Well you know..." Hiccup signed in exasperation but kept listening, "they'd call me weak and a crybaby. No one understands how painful it can become, not even you!" Stone's voice rose a bit in volume but Hiccup heard Ms. Heinrickson shush her.

"No one's ever had this problem Hun, that's why I don't understand. Its normal for Vikings to get these…These migraines like you do but they've never lasted as long as yours or been as strong are yours are! And I've never heard of someone getting them daily!"

Hiccup gasped. MIGRAINES?! Stone was right; he didn't understand how a simple headache, even if it WAS daily, could unhinge her like it had earlier.

"Yes, that's right. No one knows what its like to feel like Thor Almighty has wrapped his hands around your skull and squeezed it for hours on end, day after day. Or that a dragon is inside your brain ripping and tearing it apart for hours. Only me. I can't possibly tell him, there's no way in his entire life that he could understand!" Stone was yelling now.

Her words reminded Hiccup of a long lost memory from when he was maybe 5 or 6 years old. He himself had gotten a terrible migraine and he had described it the same way, that Thor Himself was squeezing his head mercilessly. He had screamed and yelled to his dad to make the pain stop but his dad only said to stop complaining and act like the Viking he was supposed to be.

He suddenly felt a lot of sympathy for Stone if she had to deal with that daily. Hiccup couldn't hold off any more. He burst into the room, practically sprinted to Stone and enveloped her in a large bear hug, ignoring the slight bulge of the bandages underneath her new red shirt. No one said a word until he let her go.

"I understand," Hiccup said, voice strong and full of confidence.

"You were listening?!" Stone exclaimed, her face turned as red as her shirt. Hiccup nodded and pulled up a chair across from her.

"So, how can I help?" Hiccup asked eagerly. Stone's shoulders, Hiccup noticed, drooped slightly and her eyes began to look hollow again.

"Hiccup you have her own problems and pains. You shouldn't have to deal with mine."

"I can handle my leg, but you obviously need help with your headaches. Tell you what, you let me try to help you and in return we hang out some time. Maybe ride our dragons together?" Stone shook her head.

"That sounds nice but…I don't own a dragon."

"What?! I thought nearly everyone owned a dragon by now! Why don't you have one?" Stone just shrugged and looked away, unwilling to look into Hiccup's eyes. Ms. Heinrickson also shifted slightly uncomfortably, clearly knowing the reason that Stone didn't have a dragon.

"Well we can hang out and I can help you pick and train one. How's that sound?"

"…It sounds…Nice," Stone said with a smile bigger then Hiccup had ever seen on her face.

Finally, after remanding silent for the entire conversation, Ms. Heinrickson spoke up.

"How do you intend to help exactly?" she asked, scooting her chair forward slightly so her knees were in between the teens, guarding her apprentice.

"Well you were saying there's some sort of plant that helps calm someone's headache but that it grows on top of the largest hill. If I taught her to ride a dragon she could fly up there anytime she needed the plant. We could go get Toothless and fly up there now if you wanted."

Ms. Heinrickson thought about this for minute before agreeing that it was a good plan. Suddenly Stone's hands shot up to her head, squeezing the sides of her head.

"I'm tired so I can just sleep this one off. Let's go tomorrow morning instead," she murmured, stumbling to the door.

"Okay, well, I'll walk you home," Hiccup stated as she walked out.

"You go wait outside Stone, I need a word with Hiccup," Ms. Heinrickson said protectively. Once Stone was gone with the door closed behind her, Ms. Heinrickson rounded on Hiccup.

"I don't care if you _did_ kill the Green Death," she growled, "if you hurt my delicate apprentice in any way, I'll cut the rest of that leg of yours off. You hear me?!" Hiccups eyes widened in fear and he nodded eagerly, feeling like he was talking a protective father into letting him go out with his daughter. But he didn't feel that way about Stone….Did he?

"Good. She may not seem like it on the outside, but she's not entirely made of stone, no pun intended. She's as delicate as a new-born duckling on the inside and she tells me everything. I'll know if you hurt her. Now go, you don't want to keep her waiting now do you?" she added a wink with the last sentence as she pushed him out the door.

Hiccup, feeling very confused, looked around for Stone but didn't see her. Then he noticed Toothless lying down with Stone, both peacefully asleep. Stone was curled up in a loose ball and Toothless had happily coiled around her to keep her warm. Hiccup chuckled before walking Toothless up and having him carry him and Stone to her house.

'_Maybe we could be good friends'_, Hiccup thought to himself. _Toothless seems to like her. 'Looks like a possibility of happening…'_


	2. Chapter 2 The next morning

Not Made of Stone Chapter 2 – The next morning

(Narrator following Stone)

Stone awoke in her own bed feeling completely disoriented. The last she remembered, she had left her mentor's office and fallen asleep on the ground alone. How was she in her house? Was that entire day just some crazy, bad-fish induced dream?

She glanced down at herself and decided.

'_No, it wasn't a dream. Dreams can't give you actual wounds_' she concluded, rubbing at her stitches through the bandages. Stone then turned and looked out her window and groaned. The position of the moon said it was about 2AM. That was the fifth night in a row that she had woken up at 2AM.

Knowing that she wasn't going to be falling asleep again anytime soon, she stood and lit the candle that she had put on her nightstand. Her room was basically furnished, with a simple bed, bookcase, nightstand, and desk. Her desk and its surrounding area were covered in little splats and smears of paint and were littered with blank shields and sails. Aside from her apprenticeship with Ms. Heinrickson (or Mole as Stone was allowed to call her), Stone worked as the village painter. Yes, 16 was a little young to be the village painter, but that didn't stop her. The old village painter had died in the battle of the Green Death so Stone had plenty of work cut out for her, with all the new houses and stables being built and the need for new, unburned shields and sails. Almost every extra moment she had she was painting, weather it was new houses or shields in the little cave she had discovered. But not today. Stone wasn't bursting with new ideas like she usually was.

Instead of sitting around her room, she got dressed in a new pair of brown jeans that had a cut that she had sewn shut in them, and a new, long sleeved, light brown, shirt that covered her hands and had a furry hood. After she was dressed, Stone walked down the stairs and out the door out of her empty house. All of the older generation of men, including her brother who was her only family, had gone out on a hunting mission on one of the father islands. She walked aimlessly though the sleeping village and was thankful that no one was around to bother her.

As she walked she thought about what would happen later that day. Yes she'd get to hang out with Hiccup and get the plant, but he expected her to pick a dragon and to ride Toothless. It was a very big problem seeing as Stone was terrified of dragons. Before dragons were the Vikings' friends, which they had been for about 2 months, a wild dragon had burned her parents alive, killing them right in front of Stone, and burned Stone's hands. Her hands still held marks and signs of the long-past burns but they didn't hurt unless she thought about them. The death of her parents and the temporary handicap she had gone through had her traumatized whenever she was confronted by a dragon.

Suddenly, she heard a muffled scream and realized she was standing in front of Hiccup's house. Without hesitating, Stone opened the door and entered the chief's house. She was momentarily at awe from all the stone in the house but snapped out of it when another muffled scream reached her ears. She scanned the moon lit room until she saw Hiccup squirming in his bed, face pressed into a pillow, screaming. Stone quickly crossed the room to him, lighting a candle on the way there.

Hiccup had one arm holding his pillow in place over his face, the other gripping his stump around his metal leg. Stone sighed and began to wrestle with the straps connected his fake leg to him.

"I knew you were in more pain then you let on. This is what happens when you bottle it up inside," Stone mumbled to Hiccup, even though she knew perfectly well that he couldn't hear her. After she got metal monstrosity off she began to look for something she could use to substitute medical supplies. She looked around her until she found a canteen full of water and a clean sock.

After damping the sock, she sponged his stump off, causing his screams to decrease in volume, but only slightly. Then Stone removed one of the extra bandages encasing her middle and wrapped the stump, causing his screams to decrease more. After she was sure the bandages was secure, Stone picked Hiccup's weak body up and enveloped him in a hug. His pillow had fallen so Hiccup was screaming right in her ear, but Stone didn't care. She rocked back and forth slightly, keeping her arms gentile but tight around him.

After a few minutes his screams stopped entirely and he opened his eyes. Stone released him and carefully pushed him back into his pillows.

"Thanks," he mumbled awkwardly before looking to his other side, "oh hey Toothless, did you come to help me to?"

Stone froze, not daring to look over to the dragon that had no doubt been watching her the entire time.

"I-I-I'll s-see you l-later!" she stuttered before bolting out the door and slamming it shut behind her. She ran down the hill his house was on, through the forest, jumped over a skinny river and into a cave at the base of a mountain. It was a small uninhabited cave that held a fire pit, some of Stone's paints and black shields, a pack of food, and some wool blankets that she had arranged as a small bed. Stone quickly used some coal to strike up a fire before she collapsed onto the blankets, panting heavily.

'_I can't let Hiccup help me. He and Toothless are a package deal. I'll just avoid him and he'll hopefully just forget about me.' _All of her hopes were dashed when she heard wings outside the cave. He had followed her-_again_!

Stone sat up and turned to face the opening of the cave. Toothless landed with Hiccup on his back and began to walking in; causing Stone to stiffen with each step the Night Fury took.

"Are you a stalker or something?" Stone grumbled quietly.

"Why'd you run away from me?" Hiccup asked. If he'd heard her comment he chose to ignore it. Stone couldn't stand to look in his direction and averted her eyes to the caves ceiling. She remained silent.

"C'mon Stone, please answer me. And god's dang it Look At Me!" His sudden change in tone shocked Stone but she still didn't look over.

"It's not you that I'm not looking at Hiccup," Stone responded honestly.

"That can't be true," he snapped. "The only other creature here is Toothless!" Stone turned away and nodded.

"..You're afraid of Toothless?!" he gasped.

"I'm afraid of all dragons" she napped back at him. "So if you wouldn't mind can you and your _huge dragon_ leave before I have a mental breakdown?!!" Stone didn't hear the sounds of a dragon leaving like she wanted. She heard to soft thump of his boot and the clang of his metal foot of the cave ground as he slid off Toothless.

"Wait outside buddy," he said to Toothless as he hobbled toward her. Stone began to relax as she heard the dragon's footsteps fade away but she still refused to look over, instead she stared down at her scarred hands. Hiccup hobbled across the room and sat next to her on the side she would look in. Before Hiccup could get a word out, Stone cut in.

"Your mom died in her sleep right?" she asked, seemingly out of the blue. A confused look crossed Hiccup's face but he nodded.

"It's a luxury isn't it? To know that she wasn't in any pain as she died," she looked up from her hands to stare into Hiccups face with a pained expression.

"A lot of people don't get that luxury. I certainly didn't. My parents died, screaming in pain, right in front of me. A wild dragon burned them to death in one go. It burned me also and made me a temporary handicap but it was nothing compared to being left alone."

"But don't you have-"

"An older brother?" she finished his sentence. "Yes I have a brother. But when he's not on hunting tips he's exploring the new worlds. All I have are my paints and my best friend Thistle."

"Thistle…That rings a bell. Do I know her?" Stone's pained expression turned into an extremely angry glare. She crossed her arms across her chest and let out an irritated _hmph_.

"You'd **better** know her. She's just the best friend you dumped all those years ago." Hiccup flushed slightly. He remembered leaving a friend once when he was little but he couldn't remember her name until now.

"Well if you're going to hang around me you're going to see her at least once. Better get your stories straight." At that moment Hiccup was spared from Stone's lecturing by her stomach growling. She crossed the cave and kneeled down by her pack, yawning.

"Want some fruit?"

"..Sure…" Hiccup mumbled. Stone turned and crossed the room, sitting on the opposite side of Hiccup instead of where she had before. She hadn't sat for more then half a second before she hopped up, pulling an axe out from under the blanket. She liked over at Hiccup, and blushed at his shocked and confused face. She simply shrugged and sat down again, setting the axe beside her on the cave floor. Stone handed Hiccup a banana before peeling her own and taking a bite.

Stone turned toward the entrance of the cave when she heard the thump of a dragons feet landing and an all too familiar squeal. When Toothless appeared in the firelight carrying a struggling Thistle in his mouth Stone lost it. It was too much to see her best friend dangling in the mouth of a huge monster. She released a battle cry and grabbed her axe, charging at the dragon within seconds.

(Narrator following Thistle)

The chilly night wafted around the fragile form slipping from the wooden home closest to the edge of the cliffs of Berk. The huge, round moon loomed against the blue-black sky dotted with pinpricks of light, and the faint smell of freezing water blending with salt and grass ribboned through the air. The open, vivid scene reminded the tiny Thistle of a dragon, spreading its darkened wings over the rolling seas and hard, cold ground. Its great white eye closed and opened slowly over the month, keeping a close watch on the humans beneath its wings, and the sun often caught its brilliant scales, only revealing them at night – thousands of little lights providing illumination even when the eye had closed.

Tonight, the dragon slept peacefully. He didn't flap his giant wings to stir up clouds and boil the waters and bring down the heavens upon them. Thistle was thankful for that – because tonight was another night where she couldn't sleep for pure excitement. There was a chance that tonight, she would see Touch.

Even though dragons no longer attacked the shores of Berk, the occasional one would fly by to terrorize the village. This was either a dragon who hadn't gotten the message that the Vikings were now peaceful friends, or it was one of the few dragons who hadn't acquiesced to being a 'pet' and insisted on keeping their independence. They did attack the sheep, but never any of the humans, and never let anyone near them in an effort to train them. But they certainly kept Berk from completely letting its guard down when it came to dragons.

One particular dragon – another Night Fury – had caught Thistle Snapvine's attention. While Deadly Nadders were funny and brave and Hideous Zipplebacks were resourceful and cunning, it was the secretive, shadowy Night Fury that held her eyes. She felt a kinship with the dragon – a loner, a shadow, never seen or noticed, and often dismissed out of sight. Hiccup had once described the Night Fury as a dragon that never showed itself or never missed a target. Of course, at the time he had been describing what would become his dragon: Toothless. After Toothless, however, came another Night Fury that sometimes – and most definitely – missed the target. And sometimes the somewhat clumsy dragon would even let itself appear against its own flames as a menacing silhouette.

She wanted that dragon. Every Viking in Berk had turned their attentions towards finding and taming their own dragon, learning to work together with the species they had formerly hunted. Most of them settled with the dragons that had fluttered in after the defeat of the Green Death. But Thistle had never been one to go with the flow. She had seen the somewhat gangly Night Fury on one of the last attacks, and he'd been 'hers' ever since.

The name she had given him would probably seem odd to many. No odder than Hiccup naming his very toothy dragon 'Toothless', but Thistle wasn't afraid of appearing different. The word 'touch' had so many meanings to her, far more than anyone would really understand. In the end, she could not have named the stealthy dragon anything less.

This evening, she slipped out the back of her wooden home and walked bravely to the edge of the cliffs. The stiff breeze pulled at her bunned hair, working loose a few teasing strands that caressed the edges of her face and flipped the hem of her skirt. She sat down, looking at the slight ripples on the silvery water below, and then trained her eyes to the sky, hoping for a wisp of black.

She sat there for nearly an hour, the chill slowly eating its way through the protective layers of her clothing. Unconsciously she huddled up more and more until she had made herself into a tight little ball of seized muscle – never taking her eyes from the sky.

When he came, it was silent. Only a small blast of warm wind that relieved the worst of her pain even warned her that a dragon was nearby. She turned her head, her heart pounding In hope, and saw him standing poised on the edge of the cliff several feet away, catlike green eyes focused on her.

Touch stood a little shorter than Toothless, with feelers in different places on his head, and a slightly more elongated snout. He did share Toothless' initially jumpy nature, which was why she almost never tried to approach him. But she didn't know that much else about his personality because he didn't come by very often socially.

Today, however, she learned a little more. He tilted his young head, looking at the small human curled up in a ball. Then, very gently, he stretched his head forward and spat a ball of fire at her feet. A small clump of grass caught fire and crackled merrily away, easing more of Thistle's cramped arms and legs. Touch withdrew his head and snorted very lightly – Thistle had a feeling he was laughing at her for staying outside for so long. She craned her neck in an effort to look into his eyes and smile in gratitude. He looked back, snorted again, and dropped into a sitting position, aiming his eyes out at the sea.

A few minutes later, the scream broke through the air.

Touch was gone before Thistle even registered the movement, the whip of his wings taking out the fire. She barely had any time to feel sad that the night's visit was ended so soon before her ears recognized the screaming. She would know the voice anywhere and hearing the agony within it brought tears to her eyes. Frantic, she jumped to her feet and ran in the direction of Hiccup's home.

Toothless had beaten her to the door, and the thoughtful dragon regarded her with curious eyes. _Why aren't _you_ in there,_ he seemed to be asking. Thistle just shook her head and cocked her ears, trying to listen.

Her heart stopped as she recognized the voices inside, and she instantly flattened herself to the side of the hut. She felt a strange pang in her chest, an odd clenching as though something had grabbed her heart and squeezed. Swallowing hard, she was forced to suck in a large breath as the running figure of her best friend bolted past Toothless and into the night. A few seconds later, Hiccup emerged, sleep-tousled and limping. As it always did, her heart gave a little leap and then sank into her stomach. _Twelve years._ He swung up on Toothless. _I haven't spoken to you in twelve years._ Toothless took off, following the path left by the fleeing Stone.

Thistle felt tears leak from her eyes as she began to run too. Helplessly. The two people she really cared for in Berk were both in trouble now, and they had each other for comfort – but like a moth to light she was drawn after them. If Stone had struck up a friendship with Hiccup, then it might be only a matter of time before the tough girl mentioned her. And then – would Hiccup even remember her? Would she be able to handle it if he didn't? Twelve years was a long time and she hadn't really tried to get his attention after the first few weeks of silence.

By the time she reached Stone's cave, she was out of breath and nearly exhausted from running. She slunk to the side, dragging her body up a tree and failing to notice the dark shadow that passed overhead, the curious green eyes that glanced down to make sure she was all right before returning to the tree line ahead.

Down below, Toothless huffed out, sitting himself down in a small fit. Thistle nodded slowly – Stone wouldn't have been able to handle a dragon in her cave. On the upside, Toothless had been blocking sound from the cave, but now words drifted out. Stone, frankly informing Hiccup of her parents' deaths. The burns on her hands. The presence of her older brother, who was pretty much never around – much like Thistle's own father. And then…Thistle herself.

"Do I know her?" Hiccup asked.

Toothless, sitting outside, twitched in surprise as Thistle failed to suppress a gasp. She quickly covered her hands with her mouth, drawing Toothless's emerald eyes. She tried frantically to get him to not move, to stay put while she got a grip on her emotions. Despite her preparations for Hiccup's answer, it still came as a blow to hear that he wasn't even sure she existed.

Stone sounded fairly frustrated too. "If you're going to hang out with me, you're going to see her at least once. Better get your stories straight." Thistle had completely missed the last part of the conversation, but she didn't think she wanted to know it anyway.

She began to try and climb down from the tree, shaking. Toothless came over and stretched himself up, offering a slide to the ground. Thistle smiled at him and shook her head, continuing to make her way down. She couldn't touch Hiccup's dragon. It was too...personal.

Toothless, however, seemed to have other plans. Once Thistle hit eye level with his hands, the dragon plucked her from the tree as easily as a piece of fruit, his teeth gripping the back of her shirt with remarkable gentility. She squeaked aloud in surprise as he swung around and headed back for the cave. _Oh no. This is not good. This is not good!_

A cacophony of sound reverberated around her eardrums - Toothless was purring as he carried the helpless girl into the cave. Thistle tried only once to squirm away, letting out a fearful yelp - but the effect it had on the two in the cave was far worse than she imagined.

Hiccup, who had been eating a banana, leaped to his feet. "Toothless!" he shouted. "_What are you doing?_"

Of course, Thistle didn't really hear Hiccup over the roar coming from Stone. The girl had taken one look at Toothless holding her friend in his mouth and had leaped to her feet, rushing the dragon with her axe, eyes wild.


	3. Chapter 3 Tension

**Chapter 3: Tension**

**Toothless's POV (and others along the way)**

Toothless fancied himself an intelligent dragon – but right now he felt really _stupid_.

He knew he should have guessed that Hiccup-helper would react the way she did – after all she had no trouble talking to Hiccup, but the moment Toothless got near her she froze, stiffened, and ran. Clearly, she didn't like dragons. Toothless didn't blame her – Vikings were still trying to get used to dragons as friendly, helpful creatures, (and vice versa) – but he had hoped that Hiccup would be able to at least sway her a little. Maybe if Toothless could get her up on his back, he could change her mind. It had worked with Astrid, after all.

Then, of course, there was Sad-eyes. Toothless had seen her following Hiccup at a distance, always looking at him with a cross of fear and sadness. Toothless sensed that she was afraid of the young Viking, but didn't understand why she couldn't overcome her fear to talk to him. Toothless, looking to help, had taken it upon himself to show her that Hiccup was not a Viking to be feared.

And what was he learning now? Well Hiccup was not a Viking to be feared.

But Hiccup-helper _was_.

With a croak of surprise as he saw the flash of the axe coming at him, Toothless opened his mouth wide and dropped Sad-eyes onto the hard stone floor of the cave. He backed away, hearing Hiccup shout at him, and bumping his head and wings against the sides of the cave as he did so. The wounds hurt and he moaned pitifully, trying to appear like less of a target.

Just as he had done with Astrid, Hiccup launched himself at Hiccup-helper, tackling the screaming girl from the side and knocking her to the ground. The axe clanged down viciously, scraping the floor with a terrible screech that crossed Toothless' eyes. Hiccup and Hiccup-helper rolled on the ground for a moment, wrestling, Hiccup trying to keep her from the axe, and she trying to throw him off. Down on the ground, Sad-eyes took one look at the scuffling pair and bolted for the exit.

_Oh, no you don't._ Toothless stretched out a wing to stop her before she got too far, and then shoved her rather ungainly back into the cave. She looked at him with betrayed eyes and he looked back. _You are going to talk to him this time._

Hiccup-helper finally got free of Hiccup and threw herself this time at Sad-eyes, taking the girl to the ground and curling up around her, sobbing helplessly. Hiccup – who had gotten his hands on the axe, slumped against the wall, breathing heavily, his face white with pain. "Toothless…" he croaked, "_go outside_."

Toothless, now feeling guilty and dejected on top of stupid, pulled himself out of the cave and settled protectively at the mouth, staring off into nothing.

Thistle didn't think she'd ever been so scared in her life.

In one swift go, she had seen Stone try to attack Toothless, actually attack Hiccup, and then tackle her in such a way that she could barely breathe, much less react to everything else happening around her. She had barely kept up – Toothless had made only one thing clear: she wasn't getting out. Though now the dragon was no longer filling the entrance to the cave.

_That doesn't matter. Stone isn't going to let you go._

Thistle managed to wriggle around Stone in such a way as to hug the girl back, bringing her red face to her shoulder and letting her cry. She didn't need to ask the girl what was wrong, or tell her that everything was all right. It wouldn't do any good. So she just stroked Stone's hair and waited for the jag to pass.

Her eyes traced the dimly-lit cave, alighting finally on Hiccup. He leaned heavily on the wall, clutching Stone's axe, watching the two of them with wide eyes. A thin sheen of sweat brought soot to his brown, and his brown hair tangled messily about his face. His face looked unnaturally pale in the firelight, and only then did she see one of his hands gripping his leg where the stump met the prosthetic. The whole attack had gone by in a blur, but a faint flicker passed through her mind – Hiccup leaping at Stone off of his left leg. She flinched horribly as she began to realize he had thrown himself off of his bad leg, and her guilt multiplied. _I shouldn't have come here. I've made things worse._

Thistle lowered her head to Stone's shoulder.

"Um. Are...you all right?"

A slight surge of adrenaline ran through Thistle's body, followed by an overwhelming sense of panic. Who was he talking to, her or Stone? To find out, she would have to look at him And that took more courage than she had.

"Excuse me. Are you all right? Did Toothless hurt you?"

His voice became a little more insistent, but the words were clear. The question was directed to her. Hiccup was talking to _her_.

_Don't answer him._

Hiccup felt pretty stupid too, though for very different reasons than Toothless.

He had yet to conquer instinct, it seemed. Being left-dominant and crippled on the left side presented a deeply painful, highly irritating problem that did not hesitate to cause him issues. While his right hand clutched Stone's axe, desperately trying to keep it from the sobbing girl, Hiccup's left hand squeezed the top of his stump, trying to cut off the nerves throbbing against the metal. The bandages chafed – it would be time to change them soon – and he would need to check the straps too, since it felt like they'd picked up dirt that was now rubbing into his skin. But the biggest problem right now came from the blinding pain coursing up and down his leg from the violent rubbing and twisting as a result from taking his weight. The raw skin prickled his eyes with tears that he refused to shed, (he was a _man_ after all).

This had to be a punishment for meddling in Stone's affairs. But Hiccup didn't doubt his reasoning or his choice for a second. In the past few months, he had changed greatly – from a naïve young Viking to a young Viking hero. He had made enemies of friends and friends of enemies – and he'd even been kissed by the cutest girl in Berk. But he had also become a little blind, a little too focused on Toothless and not focused on anything else. It was why Astrid had started not talking to him as much and why he had failed to notice Stone's pain earlier. He needed, he knew, to come back to the village of Berk and stop flying around in the woods and the surf. Stone, like him, was in a great deal of pain. And he could help her. He wanted to, for reasons he couldn't even name.

Beyond Stone, there was the mysterious girl that Toothless had so boldly carried into the cave. Hiccup had never before seen his dragon pick someone up like a baby and carry them. He had also noticed that Toothless purposefully blocked the entrance of the cave, preventing the girl from running out. It almost seemed like Toothless had deliberately brought her in and was forcibly keeping her in there, like he was protecting her. Or…bringing her out of hiding.

Hiccup wasn't sure how he felt about that theory. Being a person people could talk to did not bother him, but suddenly in one night he had been thrust into the lives of two girls in just as much pain as he. Or so it seemed. Was group therapy even something a Viking would _do_?

Group therapy or not, it bugged him that the mysterious girl wasn't talking. He had a feeling she was the aforementioned Thistle – the friend he had 'abandoned' when he was a kid. He could barely remember that – but when he really, really thought about it, a faint memory came through of green eyes and a soft, bright smile and a pair of small hands holding a right sock.

"_The troll took my other one."_

"_Well, let's go get it back!"_

And then something…about a death. _"Leave them alone, Hiccup. They have to pick themselves up."_

Hiccup opened his eyes to see the girl still turned away from him. _Did I do that? Did I have a choice?_

He had to say something. "So…I didn't expect that…I'll stop Toothless from doing that again. I'm sorry it scared you."

Well – that didn't work.

Still sobbing, Stone lifted her head from maybe-Thistle's shoulder – and started screaming at him.

Stone suddenly couldn't control her anger. The wall that blocked her emotions let anger pass it and she couldn't do anything about it. She felt as though her true self had been pushed to the back of her mind, only able to watch in horror at what her body did. She attacked the dragon. She attacked her "new friend". And more horribly, she started to attack her best friend. Stone's real personality fought to the surface as she made contact with Thistle's body, and managed to do so, but only by breaking the emotional wall she had built entirely.

Stone craved to be recognized and understood, but at the same time she wanted people to mind their own business. It didn't make sense, even to her, but those rules controlled her life. She'd fight to bring attention to herself and for people to understand her, but when people tried to get close to her she'd panic and push them away. Stone had managed to hide all her emotions behind a wall in her eyes for years (to everyone but Thistle who could read anyone like an open book) but after her parents died, emotions had started leaking out. Pain and sadness most importantly. But this Hiccup person had managed to push her to her limit and she had had to push through the wall she had crafted.

It was overwhelming, all the emotions she felt as she connected with Thistle. The attacking feeling left but new feelings replaced it. Sadness about what she had just done. Fear over what could have happened. Anger at herself, at Hiccup, and at his dragon. Extreme relief that her friend was okay, and many other emotions. A floodgate of long-held emotional tears opened as she wrapped her arms around Thistle and held onto her with all she had.

Stone felt them crash to the floor and Thistle struggle to get her arms out of her grip. She loosened her grip a little so Thistle could do so and was comforted when she felt them wrap around her instead of pushing her away. Stone sobbed long and hard into Thistle's shoulder when Hiccup's voice broke her thoughts. She only caught the end of his statement but what she did hear enraged her.

"…from doing that again. I'm sorry it scared you."

Stone raised her head from Thistle's shoulder, with tears still streaming steadily down her cheeks and a new fire in her eyes.

"Scared me? _Scared_ me?! It terrified me!" she screamed. Hiccup's face tightened and Stone could tell her was as angry as her.

"What-You don't think that you attacking Toothless and me didn't scare me as well?!" he screamed back. Stone unwound herself from Thistle's grip and stood before him, looking threatening, even though she was still crying.

"I only attacked you both because he made me so scared and angry that I couldn't control myself!"

"How did he make you _that_ scared and angry?!" he questioned, still screaming at her.

"That dragon carried in my best friend in his _mouth_ for crying out loud! It looked like he wanted to show us his prey before he ate it!" her voice raised pitch slightly over the words 'best friend', and 'mouth'.

"Toothless wouldn't _eat_ somebody!" he defended.

"What's your proof!?!!" Stone bared her teeth and clenched her fist so tight that her fingernails almost broke the skin of her palms, trying to stop crying.

"You can ride him! He wouldn't be able to hurt you on his back-even if he wanted to-which he wouldn't!" Stone's eyes widened. She had always dreamed of flying. But if riding a dragon, the monster of her nightmares, was the only way, she wasn't sure if she ever would be able to fly. But Stone had heard all the Viking's who had 'adopted' dragons say that it was an amazing sensation while walking through the village.

Seeing her contemplate what he'd said gave Hiccup a small sense of triumph but he didn't let Stone see it in fear that she'd just get angrier. Stone relaxed into a more natural position and watched Hiccup do the same.

"That's not PROOF, that's a way to make me face my fears," she grumbled, giving him one last smoldering glare before turning back around and crouching next to Thistle.

"Are you alright Thistle?" Stone whispered, knowing that Thistle didn't like talking to anyone besides her.

"I'm completely and totally fine, Stone," Thistle whispered so quietly that Stone had to strain to hear her. Stone knew that Thistle was probably telling the truth about herself _physically_, but definitely not _emotionally_. Those were two entirely different things with Thistle but Stone didn't press her. She knew that being around Hiccup must be painful for her.

"Are you sure that dragon didn't physically hurt you in anyway? That _I_ didn't hurt you physically in anyway?" Stone pleaded.

"_Yes_," Thistle insisted. Stone let out a sigh of relief. Stone knew that Thistle was a strong girl, but she just looked so- so _delicate,_ that it was hard for Stone to remember her strength.

Stone stood back up and offered her hand to Thistle to help her stand, feeling Hiccup's eyes on her back the entire time. Thistle gratefully accepted the hand and pulled herself up, still refusing to look at Hiccup. Stone looked at Hiccup, straight in the face and saw he looked slightly annoyed.

"Are you Thistle? Please answer me," he suddenly demanded.

Thistle remained silent however and still wouldn't look in his general direction. Stone elbowed her lightly in the side and whispered: "Come on, _talk to him_! You know you've wanted to for a long time Now's your chance! You can do it."

Thistle took a deep breath and looked into Stone's eyes deeply for a second, as if testing if she was lying or not, then turned to Hiccup. She didn't look at him in the face, but she looked at_ him_ so it still counted as progress.

"Yes," she answered quietly.

Stone glanced at Hiccup to see his reaction – it would be interesting to see what he would do when confronted with the girl whose friendship he threw away twelve years ago. Stone herself hadn't really met Thistle until the girls were eight and it had taken Stone days to get her to say anything at all other than a nod. A few weeks more had finally revealed at least some of the reasons behind Thistle's silence – and one of those reasons had indeed been Hiccup's abandonment. Taken alone, Stone had no doubt that Thistle could have handled it. But the timing had been just as bad…

At any rate, the expression on Hiccup's face was enough for Stone. It was a cross of terrible guilt and harsh determination. Whatever he was feeling, he was clearly trying to overcome it. Glancing back at Thistle, Stone saw that she had returned her gaze longingly to the mouth of the cave. She nudged the girl again, but Thistle only flinched. Stone sighed heavily and leaned over to whisper to her. "Hiccup's different now than he was."

"Look, uh...." Hiccup spoke up, sounding like he was searching for words. "Thistle, I...I don't...."

"You don't remember me so it doesn't matter," Thistle said in a rush that astounded Stone. She barely had time to look at her friend before Thistle clapped a hand over her mouth and turned away, reddening badly.

Hiccup recovered much quicker. "No, no! No, it...does matter. It matters to you. I can see that. So...I know I can't...really say much in apology...but I'm sorry. And...if you want to try and be friends again I'm willing. If you are."

Thistle didn't reply - she was too busy trying to burn a hole through the floor of the cave with her eyes. Stone nudged her, but she still didn't respond. So - Stone replied for her. "Don't take it personally, Hiccup. It took me days to get a single word out of her."

Thistle cast a betrayed stare at her, but Stone just looked back with a 'well, what did you expect?' glare.

"Well, when we go to the hill, she can come with us," Hiccup joined Stone's method of talking about Thistle as though she wasn't there. "If she wants."

The two looked at Thistle again - and this time the tiny girl gave just a fraction of a nod.

"Good," Stone said, trying not to think about everything 'the hill' would entail. Dragons. And what was scarier - wild dragons or friendly dragons? What would happen later on when she would pick the plant, turn around, and look into the eyes of a dragon that would want her to ride it?

The fear was almost enough to keep her in the cave. But she was a Viking. And Hiccup's bravery and complete confidence came as a huge boost.

She'd be fine...right?


	4. Chapter 4 Astrid

Chapter 4 - Astrid

After everyone left the cave, Stone decided she might as well try to get a little more sleep. As she began the walk back to her house, she untied her hair band and let her waist-length hair cascade down her. She trudged along when she noticed a figure in the corner of her eye, walking steadily toward her. Deciding to ignore the person until whomever it was caught up to her, Stone sped her trudging up a smidge.

"Hey," a cold and unforgiving voice spoke, slightly behind Stone to her right. Stone froze mid-step and sighed on the inside. It was Astrid.

'This can't be one of those friendly 3 AM chats...' Stone thought in dismay as she turned toward Astrid. Astrid's ice blue eyes looked even colder then normal and she was giving her a glare that might even rival the one Stone had. Astrid stood dominantly; already completely aware that if she decided to attack Stone she could easily beat her, with her hands on her hips and battle axe strapped to her back. Stone felt a surge of regret at leaving her axe in the cave but she doubted that Astrid would actually attack her; she was just trying to scare her. And boy was she doing a good job at it…

"Why are you up so late?" she asked but Stone had a feeling she already knew.

"I have insomnia. I decided to take a walk to help me sleep," Stone answered simply. It was the truth after all, that's what she had originally been doing.

"Don't lie to me!" Astrid snapped. "I know there's something going on between you and Hiccup!" Stone stiffened, paled, and blushed all at the same time. She'd always known Hiccup but they'd never talked much until now, and Stone was starting to take an interest in him. She hadn't intended to, it just sort of…happened. Astrid's eyes widened and she stepped back a step.

"So it's true! You like him!" she practically shrieked and Stone was momentarily afraid that the entire village of Berk could hear them.

"N-no! It's not like that! We're just hanging out, helping each other." Stone had hoped that would help but Astrid snarled at her and stepped right into her face, her nose just inches away from Stone's.

"Helping each other HOW?" she growled.

"H-he's in pain, I'm in pain, we're helping each other find remedies!" Stone's usually strong voice squeaked slightly at the end of her sentence.

"He's not in pain! I'm his girlfriend, I would have noticed!" Stone's eyes were dry from crying earlier but that didn't stop the spark of fire from entering them.

"Well MAYBE you should pay more attention to him and less to Snotlout! Everyone knows you two have been hanging out a lot lately!" Now it was Astrid's turn to blush.

"W-What's going on between me and Snotlout is none of your business!"

"Then what's going on between me and Hiccup is none of_ your_ business!" Stone turned on her heel and started to stalk away. "Good Night!" she growled and prayed to Thor that Astrid wouldn't follow her. Her prayer must have been heard because she turned back to see Astrid stomping away. She sighed in relief as she walked the rest of the way home.

(Thistle)

_Most parents believe a gruesome name will frighten off gnomes, trolls, and all manner of creatures that choose to make us Vikings into a tasty soup or soufflé. So my name is a little bit of a mystery. But it suits me very well. My mother had a brilliant idea four years before she died. Name her little girl something soft, touchable, sweet, and utterly non-threatening - so when that little girl grew up to be a fearsome Viking warrior, she would be completely underestimated._

_After all, who would be afraid of a Thistle?_

_Four years later, my mother lay in a boat floating out to sea, and my father became a complete stranger. I knew he was grieving - at four, I knew the difference between Death and sleep, as well as the consequences of the former. But I had heard many stories of people coming back from grief. My father - just didn't._

_I grew up near Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. We played as kids - very little kids. He always jumped from one topic to the next, changing games and rules as he saw fit, but always making sure it was fair for me too. When we were four, he once tried to take me out to hunt a troll because I told him it had stolen my sock, (the left one, very annoying). But I was too scared. I wasn't as brave as he was, and Hiccup was very brave._

_But then when my mother floated out to sea, I saw Hiccup giving me a look I had never seen before - a stare of utter helplessness. I wanted to go to him and ask him why he looked so helpless; it wasn't like there was anything he could do. When I stepped towards him though, that look turned to one of brilliant pain, and he backed away from me. One, two, three steps, and then he turned and ran away. He never spoke to me again._

_Until that night in the cave._

Thistle opened her eyes to a sunny morning in Berk. The sun rained down sheaves of light onto the grey-blue ocean churning below and a light wind pushed the shutters of her window open and pulled at the blanket enveloping her small body. She pushed her black hair out of her eyes - it had come down from its bun in sleep - and slowly rose. She padded quietly to the window and peeked out, eyes widening. For a moment, she almost imagined a colorful sail on the horizon, a new ship come to Berk with new things to see and new people to watch from the sidelines. For a moment, she found herself a little optimistic about the day, a little hopeful. It was more than she had felt upon waking up in a long time, and she searched for the cause as she searched for her clothes in the thin beam of light that shot through her shutters.

It had to be Hiccup and Stone. Their brief interlude in the cave the previous night - however terrifying - had had one positive outcome. It had ended twelve years of silence. It had opened the door to refuel a friendship that had died. And...it had woken Thistle up to the realization that if she gave too much of herself to it, Hiccup could just take it away again. She had never known why he left. She could make him do it again without even realizing what she was doing wrong.

Well then, she would have to do nothing wrong.

Silently resolved, Thistle began descending the stairs into the brighter common room of the hut she and her father shared. Her face slowly squinched as she did so. Even if her emotional state of mind had had a brief patch placed on it, her father's still had not. He lay sprawled on the floor near dimly glowing embers, the remnants of previous dinners scattered about the room. The table lay on its side, the two chairs sitting at it broken and cracked again. And looming on the wall, lit by morning light cast into the wooden room through an open window, shimmered her mother's armor. Seeing it brought tears to Thistle's eyes and she clenched her fists against wanting to punch it. Looking down at her father's hefty body, stinking in last week's armor, Thistle took in a deep breath and set to work. Moving as silently as her name, she crept around picking up mugs and placing them at the sink, then brushing old food into the fire pit where she lit the flames and let them devour the remains. She righted the table and made a silent note to find wood later that could be pounded into new chairs. Lastly, she filled a mug with cold water and set it by her sleeping father's side, then covered him with part of the skin rug that lay on the floor of their hut. It couldn't have been any dirtier than him, and he needed to be a little warmer.

Finally, Thistle opened the door and stepped out into the village.

Berk itself was already bustling with activity. Taking advantage of the good weather, many of the women sat outside sewing and chatting eagerly away. The younger boys and girls ran around playing trolls and Vikings, (while some of the heavier boys acted as dragons to the heroes). Occasionally a dragon flew by overhead, roaring a greeting or snapping up a fish from the large bowls placed helpfully around. The men spoke in loud voices about any topic from organizing training parties to practice hunting on dragons to narrowing down what design to be painted on the next warship's sail, (something Thistle knew Stone would create). She looked around with slightly wider eyes than usual before slowly putting one foot in front of the other, trying to work up enough courage to go to the Great Hall to eat.

Hiccup seemed to appear out of nowhere, his lanky body flashing out of his own house followed closely by the ever-present Toothless. The lovable dragon lifted his nose and sniffed expectantly at the air, then did something odd - he growled. Hiccup instantly stopped to look at his friend, but Toothless wasn't able to do much more than that. Hiccup shrugged, clearly dismissing Toothless' grouchiness for now, and began to walk in the direction of the Great Hall himself. Thistle felt a small thrill at the thought of eating with her new-old friend and though she did not yet smile, she began to move forward a little quicker.

And then suddenly, there she was.

Thistle froze in place as Astrid materialized from another hut, running out towards Hiccup with a welcoming shout. She planted herself firmly in his path and had to incline her head to get his attention, (maybe he was more worried about Toothless than Thistle had earlier thought). Toothless stopped and grunted, tilting his head at the girl. Thistle stopped too, but her ears listened forward.

"Where are you going?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup jumped a mile. Yep, he'd been distracted. "Ah! Oh! Astrid. Hi, Astrid! Uh, I was just going...to go eat breakfast." The tips of his ears reddened and Thistle felt the same pang that had entered her stomach when she'd heard Stone's voice in Hiccup's home. An odd desire to go slap Astrid overcame her, but she dug her nails into her palm and clenched her teeth, still listening.

"I'm coming with you. We can go flying after." One thing about Astrid, she had no qualms about making a party. Except there was something in her voice - a thin ribbon of panic that Thistle had never heard before. It lifted her eyebrows. Over by Hiccup, Toothless narrowed his eyes and sniffed the air again. He tried to nudge Hiccup, but the boy was too focused now on Astrid.

"It's going to be quick, Astrid. I don't really have time this morning."

"Oh? And what's so important that you decide not to go flying with me for the fourth morning in a row?"

It wasn't Hiccup's response that stunned Thistle, but the sudden potent venom in his voice. "What's so important that you're suddenly speaking to me now? A week ago, you wouldn't even look at me."

Well, okay - his response stunned her a little bit too._ Irony, Hiccup?_

"You don't ever look at me either, Hiccup. All you see is your _pet_."

No, this was serious. Without realizing it, Thistle started walking forward as some other Vikings began to take notice of the fight starting in the middle of the path. Toothless, picking up on the additional tension, cast Hiccup a worried look. Hiccup, for his part, looked absolutely livid. Thistle didn't think she'd ever seen him quite that angry. He opened his mouth to speak, then shut it, rethinking his words.

"What's happened to you?" Astrid pressed. "You're the big hero. We get that. But the evil dragon's dead, Hiccup, and we need you to help us figure out what to do next. Except you're never around. You're off flying or...whatever."

"I'm helping a friend." Hiccup's voice had gone dangerously quiet. "No, I'm helping two friends. Two friends that this village has forgotten. You're smart enough to figure out how to bond with your dragons. It's not my job to tell you what to do. But no one is helping the two I'm helping. No one even knows they're alive. So _Toothless_ and I are giving a care."

Thistle sucked in a small breath as she realized who Hiccup was talking about. And then she flushed with pleasure. So he really did consider her a friend again.

"A _friend_," and now there was venom in Astrid's voice too. "I'm sure Stone's a _perfect_ little friend for you."

Hiccup's mouth dropped open, as did Thistle's. "What are you talking about?" the boy asked, anger and confusion swirling his voice into a slur.

"You know," Astrid murmured, her own face reddening. "You know, and that's the whole problem."

"No, I really don't!" Hiccup snapped back.

At this point, Thistle had moved close enough that Toothless had jerked his head towards her, casting her a look that clearly said _HELP him!_ Thistle shook her head slightly. She didn't have the ability to go up against Astrid. Not that she needed to. Astrid had noticed the gathering crowd. And worse, she'd noticed Thistle. She nodded once, very slowly. "It makes sense," she said softly. "You're the hero, so they'd all come to you. And you would forget all about the ones who helped you do it."

"Who's _they_?" Hiccup pressured.

"Those who are too weak to help themselves. Those that never speak to any of us. Those that follow you around for years like a weak-brained Gronckle!" Astrid's voice rose with each sentence until she screamed the last directly at Thistle.

Now Hiccup turned to see Thistle standing there, a look of shock and horror and growing mortification on her face. He looked visibly stunned to see her there. Next to him, Toothless moaned in worry. And worst of all, every villager watching the fight turned to look at Thistle too, wondering about the object of Astrid's poisonous jealousy.

Panic overwhelmed Thistle. She had no idea where the attack had come from, or why it had even come. She'd never approached Hiccup in such a way as to make Astrid jealous. She'd always felt protective of him whenever she saw him with someone else, but she chalked that up to the fact that he'd been her friend first before...he left. And anyway, it wasn't like he cared for her in that manner. He hadn't even remembered her name before last night!

Unfortunately, facing down a fire-breathing Astrid had completely scattered her thoughts. She couldn't say anything. She couldn't do anything but turn bright red and run, as hard as she could, for the opening in the crowd, right between the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut, completely ignoring Hiccup's cry of: "_Thistle!_"

As she passed through them, she felt something snatch at her arm. She pulled it away with a panicked grunt, but as she put the crowd behind her, she heard Tuffnut say: "_I_ don't think you're a weak-minded Gronckle,"

She ran for Stone's house. It was one of the only places she felt safe.

(Stone)

Stone awoke the next morning to a knocking at her door. She quickly got dressed in a short-sleeved brown shirt and brown shorts since it looked sunny outside. She also didn't take the time to tie her hair up. Yawning, she ran down her stairs to the door. When she opened the door she found a teary-eyed Thistle. Stone ushered her in and let her calm down over a bowl of warm soup.

"So what happened?" Stone finally asked once Thistle had calmed down.

"Well…Hiccup and Astrid were fighting and…Astrid got defensive about him helping us and…told everyone that I'd kept an eye on Hiccup all these years…and called me a weak-minded Gronckle!" Thistle started to sob again and Stone wrapped her arms around her, comforting her as Thistle had done for her last night.

"Thor give us strength," Stone mumbled as she drew little circles on Thistle's back with her finger. Once Thistle calmed down enough that Stone could talk to her, Stone faced her and said, "You're not a weak-minded Gronckle. You are Thistle, the wonderful, young Viking that I am proud to call my best friend. Astrid makes her problems into other people's. It's the only way she survives, by feeding off other people's misery and shame. But you know what? _**No one**_ pushes my best friend around. Stay here, I have a feeling Hiccup is looking for you."

Stone grabbed her axe and ran out her door, leaving Thistle behind, and began to hunt Astrid down. She was where Stone had suspected she'd be, at the Training Arena. Stone stomped up to her, paying no mind to the fact that Astrid was angrily swinging axes at targets and never missing a bull's eye.

"Hey!" she said loudly, shoving her axe underneath Astrid's chin. Astrid didn't look scared but she didn't move either.

"Why do you feel the need to kick people back down when they're finally happy?" Stone demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Astrid breezed, acting as though she didn't know nor care what Stone was talking about.

"You know fairly well that Thistle isn't happy! Well she was happy for once today. But you couldn't have a weak person happy now could you! You think people like me and her don't deserve to exist don't you! Well, just because we can't blow off emotional or physical pain like some battle-hungry-troll like _you_, doesn't mean we didn't earn the space we occupy!" Stone shouted at her.

"No, you don't deserve it!" Astrid shouted back at Stone, shoving one of her own axes under Stone's chin.

"And why not? We've both hunted for ourselves and others! We both have friends, we've both been trained in the way of killing a dragon, even if we don't show it off by wearing those stupid pointy hats you all are so proud off!" Stone jabbed her axe closer to Astrid's skin.

"Because when you're weak, and should be eaten! The dragon that killed your parents should've killed you along with them! I doubt you would have made it to Valhalla though, you're too weak!" She laughed in cruel humor. That was the final straw for Stone. She'd been pushed to her limit last night and now it had been pushed again. All Stone saw was red and the cruel monster in front of her. In her mind, Astrid wasn't there alone, now there was the Ferocious Nightmare that had murdered her parents standing behind her. She drew back her axe and brought it down but only found air. Astrid had dodged at the last second.

"Are you crazy?" Astrid screamed at Stone as she swung her axe at Astrid once again clipping her arm slightly, barely causing it to bleed. Stone didn't answer, and just continued to attack. It wasn't long before the twins showed up, but in that time Stone had clipped Astrid a few more times and Astrid had given her a shallow cut across her cheek. At first they found amusement at Stone trying to decapitate Astrid but then they realized she was actually trying to _seriously_ cut her head off. They came up behind Stone and managed to wrestle the axe away from her. After the axe was away, they bonded Stone's arms in each of their grips, holding her away from Astrid who was panting and covered in dirt.

"Let me go!" Stone screamed, trying desperately to pull from their grips.

"I'll kill her! Even if it's not now I'll KILL HER!" Stone shouted almost sounding like a lunatic as they dragged her away from Astrid who was sitting on the ground completely exhausted and confused.

"She's not right in the head," Stone distantly heard Ruffnut say as they dragged her off to wherever it was they were going.

"I think she's blinded by anger. But that's not surprising; after all, Astrid was fighting with her best friend this morning," Tuffnut stated and Stone was slightly shocked that he knew that she and Thistle were best friends, but was still too angry to care.

"So what should we do with her now?"

"I say we dunk her head in some water. That might wake her up," Tuffnut suggested with a smirk. Stone again tried to get away but to no avail. They were simply stronger then she was.

After a few minutes they found what they were looking for: a large bucket of water. Each twin released one hand from her arms and took hold of the bucket. In one, swift motion, they had the bucket tipped over her head and Stone's entire body soaked. Since she hadn't tied her hair up into a ponytail this morning, her hair also got completely soaked through and stuck to her face and back.

"Better?" the Twins giggled together.

"Oh yeah, just peachy," Stone responded sarcastically as her head cleared up.

"Still going to kill Astrid?" Ruffnut asked, giggling like an idiot.

"Yup, but not now. I need to get back to my house. I've got something important happening later. Thanks for your 'help'." With that, Stone turned on her heel and ran back to her house. The Twins must have dragged her farther then she'd thought because it wasn't long before she was at her door. She walked in, still dripping all over the place to see Hiccup sitting at the table, looking confusedly at the stairs.

"What'd I miss? Where's Thistle?" Stone asked, though she didn't really need to.

"Up there. I came in, she ran. I don't under_stand_ her, Stone."

"She's terrified of you," Stone replied. "You left her when she needed you most, and she had no one else to turn to. She's afraid of losing you again."

A small thump at the top of the stairs revealed Thistle coming out, looking at Stone with wide, shocked eyes. Stone cocked her head at her best friend. "Thistle, come downstairs. No one is going to bite you. Face your fears head-on, that's how you overcome them." While Stone did care deeply for her best friend, sometimes she wanted Thistle to at least start growing a spine. She was beautiful and intelligent - and completely lacking in self-confidence.

Stone turned away without waiting for a response, and only then did Hiccup say: "Wait a moment...you're _soaked_!"

"Way to recognize," Stone sniped at him, adding a half-smile for humor.

"And you have a cut on you cheek!" Thistle stated, shocked and slowly coming down the stairs.

Stone put a hand up to her cheek. "Oh, do I? I didn't notice." When she extracted her hand she noticed there was a little blood on it. "Oh look I'm even bleeding! Well good for her, landing a blow on me."

"W-who's her?" Thistle asked hesitantly. Stone just answered by giving Thistle and Hiccup a look that said _it's not that hard to guess._

"_You attacked Astrid?_" Thistle and Hiccup shouted together. Stone flushed slightly but pretended to be wringing out her hair and turned her head away.

"Well, yeah. Actually got her a few times too. She insulted Thistle and I and said that I should've been killed along with my parents. I wasn't going to take that lying down, even if I could control myself."

"Is she alright?" Hiccup begged. He may not be her boyfriend anymore but he definitely still cared.

"Yeah," Stone grumbled. "Tuff and Ruff came and stopped me before I could do any real damage. And they 'woke me up' by dumping water on me, hence me being soaked through."

Stone glanced down at herself and noticed for the first time that her clothes were also sticking to her, showing off her figure. Her flushed face was over taken by a blush and she was glad that Thistle and Hiccup didn't seem to notice that her true figure was showing. Stone always wore loose fitting clothes specifically so no one could see her skinny figure, but it was wide out in the open right now. "Got to change. Don't follow me," she mumbled as she walked as quickly as should could without breaking into a run across the room and up the stairs.

As soon as she reached the stairs, Hiccup bolted out the door. Neither Thistle nor Stone bothered to follow him since she heard him talking outside to the Night Fury. "Today has been nuts, eh buddy?" Stone heard him say. With a shiver, she proceeded up the stairs to her room.

Stone changed quickly into an old short-sleeved yellow shirt, since she had been wearing brown far too often lately, and a pair of red shorts. She tied her damp hair back in her usual low ponytail as she walked back down the stairs. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she looked up to be nearly nose to nose with the Night Fury. Her eyes widened as she stared into the dragon's eyes, her entire body stiff. Toothless' eyes were telling her to trust him. That he wouldn't hurt her. Stone didn't respond in anyway but she believed him. You know, kind of.

Slowly and carefully, the Night Fury wound itself around her entire body. Stone noted mentally that the sensation was both terrifying, and…familiar? Had the dragon done this before without her being aware? It didn't matter to Stone for the moment, all she cared was that it was comfortable, and hesitantly loosened up, melting into the dragon's embrace.

Unnoticed by Stone, Thistle and Hiccup watched her with amazement and success coloring their faces. They'd won the stubborn girl over. Stone had, for now, put aside her fear and just relaxed.

"Well," Hiccup murmured after a moment, "why don't we head for the hill now before someone else shows up to pick a fight?"

Thistle nodded.


	5. Chapter 5 Up the HillMountain!

Chapter 5: On the Mountain

Stone moved from her relaxed position when Toothless uncurled from around her. She looked over at Hiccup and Thistle to see them both sporting a look of triumph and surprise. Feeling her face heat, she ducked her head and cleared her throat.

"L-like I said. Face your fears head on," she mumbled as she grabbed the picture of the plant, her axe and followed Toothless out the door. Hiccup and Thistle trailed behind her, Hiccup trying to hide his chuckles.

"So, are we walking right through the village where Astrid will most likely attack us, or through the forest where we'll look like cowards?" Stone asked, waving her axe around slightly.

"Leave the axe here, but we'll go through the village. We're Vikings and pride isn't something we let go of easily. So, Thistle, you go out there and show them that you're not a weak-minded Gronckle. Stone, you go out there and show that you can control yourself again. And I'll go out there and show off you two. Berk doesn't really know you exist, and it's about time they knew," Hiccup said strongly.

"Leave my axe? But why? Astrid could easily attack me again if I'm unarmed!" Stone fumed. Hiccup's speech was nice, but she had a feeling it was just to distract her from having to abandon her axe at the house.

"Toothless won't fly you if you have a weapon," Hiccup stated simply.

"A-and it will look like you know she wouldn't dare attack you!" Thistle added quietly, scared that Stone would lose her cool again. Stone sighed but reluctantly put her axe back in the house.

"Fine, the axe is in the house. So, are we ready to go risk our lives now?" Stone asked as she started walking toward the hill.

"I doubt she'll attack again, Stone," Hiccup assured.

As they walked, everyone they passed kept their distance. Their whispers of the mystery girl attacking Astrid and of Hiccup and Astrid's fight made Stone angry and she made it known, but only to her friends.

"See?" Stone hissed to them. "They're all afraid we'll start something again."

"Calm down," Thistle whispered in a very shaky voice. Stone grumbled under her breath about wishing she had her axe but they ignored her. Thistle did all she could to march behind Hiccup, keeping her eyes forward, but eventually her steps began to falter and she slowly began to fall behind from the group, shrinking into herself.

After a while of just walking, Tuffnut and Ruffnut ran over and joined them, each taking a side of Stone who glared forward.  
"So," they purred together, each throwing an arm across Stone's shoulders. "You sure you're not going to kill Astrid today? She's right over there." They intentionally egged Stone on, wanting to see her attempt to kill the blonde girl and to dump water on her again.

"Yes, I'm sure I'm not going to kill her today. I've got more important things to do then kill the brat," Stone spoke through clenched teeth and especially loud so Astrid could hear her. To Stone's pleasure Astrid steamed and started to move toward them but was stopped by Snotlout, who held her back by her shoulder. Tuff and Ruff peeled their lower eye lids down and stuck their tongues out at Astrid and Snotlout, making loud "nyah" sounds. After the twins stopped their mocking, Stone noticed Fishlegs watching them all with an apologetic look. She knew Fishlegs must've wanted to join their side but was too afraid of Astrid and Snotlout to do it. Hiccup nodded to him that he understood and they all kept walking.

After they all passed the two, Tuffnut released Stone and moved back to walk beside the stumbling Thistle, who had now fallen so far back from the group that she was angling sideways and taking a completely different path. "Come on, Terror," he said.

Thistle looked at him confusedly and he tried to smile. "You're little. Like a Terrible Terror." This brainy statement was followed by an even worse attempt at smiling. Finally, Tuffnut cleared his throat and offered his shoulder for her to balance on. Thistle continued to give him a confused stare, but she also staggered forward, lightheaded from breathing shallow. Tuffnut caught her and started to walk slowly.

As they cleared the village and neared the hill, Hiccup stopped and turned to the group.

"Ruff, Tuff, please leave," he said simply.

"Just because you're the big hero doesn't mean you get all the women," Ruffnut replied, finally releasing Stone and crossing her arms across her chest. Everyone stared at her, confused, seeing as that was not the reply anyone had expected. Ruffnut just turned and pointed to her twin and Thistle walking together with Thistle pressed into Tuffnut's side. When Thistle noticed everyone looking at the pair of them, she quickly stepped away.

"Too many people will make this scarier. We'll be back later, and you can talk to us then," Thistle spoke as clearly and strongly as she possibly could.

"Will make what scarier?" the twins demanded together but Thistle didn't say anymore, and ducked behind Stone.

"Really guys, this is more of a private matter. We'll tell you what we can later but right now, you have to go," Stone assured them. Ruff and Tuff thought for a minute then smirked to each other.

"Promise you'll let us watch next time you try to kill Astrid? And don't try to deny that you'll attack her again, we know you will," they exclaimed in total synch.

"As long as you don't try to stop me," Stone said simply and shook hands with the twins, sealing the deal. Still somewhat reluctant, Ruff and Tuff walked away after that and the trio continued on their way. This time Stone supported Thistle but after a while Stone starting to jitter about what was about to happen and it was jiggling Thistle so much that she let go.

"Sorry," Stone mumbled as she tried to control her scared jittering.

Stone managed to slow her jitters down a bit but when they reached the hill they kicked up into high power again. She may have found a new trust for Toothless but that didn't mean she didn't trust that he wouldn't drop her.

"Y-you two go first," Stone stuttered, still trying to hide her jitters. She was supposed to be a Viking wasn't she?

"No!" Thistle cried, her face heating up. Stone gave her the look of a begging Terrible Terror, eyes wide and lips pouted, accompanied by her uncontrollable jittering. Thistle took one look at Stone's face before sighing and stepping closer to Toothless.

Toothless purred eagerly and danced back and forth a few steps. "Whoa, easy boy. What are you so excited about?" Hiccup tried to calm his jumpy dragon as Thistle froze on the spot. Toothless flinched away from Hiccup and bowed before Thistle, looking at her with eager eyes. Thistle shook her head at the dragon and then shakily began to climb up. Hiccup reached a hand down to help her, but Thistle refused, pushing herself firmly onto the dragon's back. Her small fingers latched onto the saddle.

"You may want to hold on to me," Hiccup said. "The saddle sometimes floats."

Stone lifted her eyebrows at Thistle, who looked like Hiccup had just asked her to touch fire. After a few moments, she leaned very slowly forward and rested her hands on his shoulders.

"Come on, buddy," Hiccup tapped the dragon lightly, and Toothless took off.

(Thistle)

Thistle yelped in alarm when she felt the dragon surge under her, and her precarious grip on Hiccup's shoulders vanished. She latched her arms firmly around his stomach and buried her face in the back of his neck. Her long black hair blew out behind her in a curtain, and her body shifted over the rolling muscles of the dragonwings flapping on either side of her. The saddle actually did lift off of Toothless's back a little bit, causing Thistle to squeeze her knees hard in an effort to stay on. She felt as though if she let go of Hiccup, she would go sailing off into a world filled with air, and fall forever.

She was probably right.

"Well," Hiccup shouted over the wind, "take a look. Toothless seems to be interested in showing you the sights."

Lift her head? Now? Thistle couldn't think of anything she wanted to do less - but she didn't seem to have a choice. Her head lifted of its own free will, and she yelped again - this time in awe.

The top of the hill flickered by under her, a scrabbly brown and green mess of dirt and clumps of grass. But off in the distance, the ice blue sea rolled its lazy combers onto the beaches, hissing white surf among the black rocks. The white day stretched on forever over her head - no clouds this much closer to the top of the world - and the meeting at the horizon was a graceful blend of paling water and darkening sky. And most interesting of all, she hadn't imagined the colorful sail that morning. There it was, on the edge of the horizon...a small spot of color that didn't belong. _Is that a ship? It's so small!_

Without even realizing she was doing it, Thistle felt a wide, wondrous smile break out over her face.

On Toothless' back in front of her, Hiccup glanced behind to see Thistle's beaming face. An odd sensation rolled his stomach, and suddenly he found his face warm and his body lit with adrenaline, as though caught peeking at something he wasn't supposed to look at. Jittery and nervous, he focused forward.

Toothless glided steadily downward, giving Thistle precious seconds to look at the sight, before dropping neatly onto the hilltop. Thistle didn't want to get down at first, but Hiccup slid off with practiced ease and offered his hand to her. Though she still managed to look away from him, Thistle did take his hand and sprang off, landing lightly. "Thank you," she murmured quickly, before beginning to look around.

Hiccup was silent for a few seconds before suddenly saying: "You know...this isn't really a hilltop."

Thistle half-turned towards him.

"Well...it is...but it's so high, you see. The Elders are thinking of calling it a mountain instead of a hill."

Thistle nodded, unsure of where he was going with this. Gradually, she found herself wondering when he was going to leave to get stone. The atmosphere between the two of them, now that they were no longer sharing a flight, was getting tense and awkward. She was too afraid to speak to him, and he seemed to know it.

"Are you ever going to tell me why you can't stand me?"

Thistle was so shocked that she almost looked at his face. As it was, she only got as high as his chest before the familiar fear clenched her and she stopped. She managed to choke out: "W-What?"

"Never mind. I'm going to go get Stone," Hiccup dismissed the idea just as he had it, and sprang on Toothless. The dragon was gone a couple flaps later, leaving Thistle alone and stunned on the hill-mountaintop.

(Stone)

Stone wasn't any readier to fly on Toothless then she had before Thistle went up. So when Toothless landed beside her she was sure she was going to die because of her heart stopped. _'Breathe Stone. You can do this. Toothless has flown with people on his back many times and you've always wanted to fly,' _Stone thought to herself as she numbly climbed on Toothless' back.

"Ready?" Hiccup asked. Stone responded by winding her arms around his waist and giving a short nod.

Toothless took off gently but Stone couldn't resist the urge to tighten her arms as tight as she could around Hiccup's waist, herself squeezing into him. Somewhere in the back of her head she registered that she liked the feeling of being so close to him but the front of her mind was too distracted to notice. She left the air rush out of him and his guts push against her in protest. As Stone realized she liked the feeling of flying, she loosed her arms and backed away from him slightly. Toothless flew up in large circles, showing off his flying skills and the land.

"Thanks for returning my ability to breathe," Hiccup chuckled when he looked back at her.

"Yeah, well, I decided that since you're the one driving you should be able to breathe so we don't crash," she joked back. Hiccup smiled then turned back around.

Stone watched the village of Berk fly past her vision and swelled with pride when she realized nearly half of the houses had her painting style on them. Her prideful moment was cut short however, when Hiccup turned back to her with a serious expression on his face.

"Why does Thistle hate me?" he asked, his voice laced with sadness. Stone groaned at him in response.

"I thought I already told you that she's just _scared_ of you? Well, not you as a person but what you're capable of doing to her emotionally."

"But what is it that I can do to her?" Hiccup begged.

"You could rip her heart out again?" Stone suggested.

"R-rip her heart out?" he gasped.

"Well yeah," Stone stated simply. "You left right after her mom died and her dad stopped being able to be around her. She basically lost the three most important people in her life in one short day, and I didn't show up in her life for another four years. You should have seen her when I found her. Totally reserved, never saying a single word, and never letting an emotion pass her eyes. It was terrible Hiccup," Stone sighed.

"I didn't mean to hurt her…" Hiccup whispered.

"I don't think anyone ever intends to hurt someone emotionally unless they really _try_. You couldn't have known it would have such an effect on her. But can we please just enjoy the flight for now? We have plenty of time to sort you and Thistle out," Stone begged. She was having such a good time and she had a feeling that herself talking to Hiccup instead of Hiccup talking to Thistle wasn't going to help him much.

"Good idea," he agreed and Toothless sped up and continued to show off. The mood quickly lifted and they were both happy again as the flight erased all weights from the shoulders, even if it was only for a few more minutes.

When Toothless pulled up high and then plummeted down into a dive Stone couldn't stop herself from releasing Hiccup entirely, throwing her arms into the air above her head and letting out a loud "Whoop!" of joy. Hiccup laughed and Toothless made a rumbling in his throat that Stone guessed was a laugh. Before landing Toothless preformed three swirls just to make Stone whoop again.

Stone was happier then she'd been for quite a while and when she jumped off Toothless she ran to Thistle and picked her up, spinning her around in a hug.

"I did it!" Stone beamed. Thistle quietly giggled in response. Hiccup still had a bright smile on his face, but his eyes saddened a little, looking atThistle.

"Okay! Now let's find that plant!" Stone exclaimed as she produced the flower's picture from her pocket. It couldn't look any more ordinary: it was a short little plant that was covered in purple flowers. Stone would use every part of the plant and mix them in a bowl, add water and then heat. She would have to make sure to heat it or it wouldn't work but it thankfully only needed to be heated once. It would be eaten whenever needed and would supposedly help ease her headaches almost instantaneously.

(Toothless)

Toothless felt pretty pleased with himself, purring low in his throat as Hiccup, Hiccup-helper, and Sad-eyes, (or was her name Thistle? They seemed to use the word around her a lot, and Toothless knew from experience that a single word used around a human a lot was often their name), all began looking around for something. Since they were so preoccupied, Toothless strutted to the edge of the mountaintop and looked comfortably out over the hissing sea.

His comfort vanished.

The smell filled his nose, a smell of fellow fire-breather combined with a stink of human bodies outfitted with metal and blood. Hiccup and his family had a more earthy smell, a kind of dirt-and-animal-skin stench – and of course Hiccup himself always smelled a little ashy, like he stood too close to fire all the time. But this smell was a hundred times worse, and it set his feelers on edge on top of that. He vibrated them, trying to get a feel for the air, but all in all his body tensed and his head turned nervously left and right. The smell had gotten stronger since than that morning. Which meant whatever was causing it was _closer_.

Then, he heard a growl.

Toothless jumped and looked straight down, snarling in surprise. There, clinging firmly to a ledge a few yards from the top of the mountain, was a young Night Fury, a few years younger than Toothless. He recognized this particular dragon – he had an extra feeler on his head like a horn and an old bite wound on his front leg that made him limp a little when he walked. He had kind of taken over Toothless' job of shooting the human village every once in a while, but in Toothless' opinion he still needed a lot of work to be a real _fighting_ dragon.

Plus, he had an attitude problem. This became evident in the answering snarl he gave Toothless when the dragon poked his head over the edge of the cliff.

_What are you doing here?_ Toothless wondered. He jerked his head in a 'shoo' motion. The dragon shook his head and dug his claws into the stone. _Why are you watching us? _

He shot a small warning burst, making the dragon jump, but the Night Fury agilely recovered, catching and pulling himself back up onto the ledge. He snapped at Toothless and then jerked his head out towards the sea, where The Smell was coming from. The little dragon growled again.

"Toothless? You okay, buddy?"

The dragon vanished, leaping from the edge and diving under it. Toothless lifted his head to see Hiccup looking at him worriedly, holding various bits of plants in his hands. Toothless tilted his head and whimpered before looking back out to sea. Far away, on the horizon, he could see a color that was neither sea nor sky. Could Hiccup see it too?

"You've been acting weird all morning. Are you feeling all right?"

Apparently not. Toothless grunted and put his head down in frustration. Something was Coming, and his warning methods were not working.

"I'll take you out for a longer flight when we get back, all right? I know we haven't really gone flying in a while." Hiccup patted him and Toothless sighed. Maybe once he got Hiccup up in the air, he could make him see the source of The Smell.

Suddenly, a piercing shriek echoed through the air. Toothless jumped and Hiccup yelped in response. The two of them spun as one to the source of the cry – and Toothless snarled furiously.

(Einherjar's [meaning Single Combatant] POV)

The one-headed Zippleback flew along aimlessly when he noticed movement on one of the hills. On closer inspection, he released it was three Flesh-Children and Arnkell verbally fighting with Dava. He had always wanted to make friends with a Flesh-Child but before the Great Battle they had been too vicious or scared for his tastes, and now nearly all of the Flesh-Children were already spoken for.

Einherjar landed on the opposite side of the hill from Arnkell, not wanting to disturb him in case he saw him as a threat to the Flesh-Child that had renamed him 'Toothless'. Einherjar thought this name was rather ridiculous seeing as Arnkell obviously had a lot of teeth but he didn't dare insult him. Dava wasn't a lot to fear, he was still young and needed to learn to pick his fights better, but Einherjar wasn't in the mood to deal with the stubborn teen, even if it didn't mean interrupting Arnkell.

Using his long, stretchable neck, Einherjar looked over the top edge of the hill and observed the Flesh-Children. He immediately steered clear of the scrawny, red-headed male, knowing perfectly well that he belonged to Arnkell. The female with the long black hair and sad eyes had seen sitting with Dava before so she was claimed also. Then Einherjar noticed the brownish-blonde haired female. She radiated pain, happiness, and strong determination and for some reason Einherjar was called to her. As soon as his eyes landed on her, he felt pulled to her but he ignored it until he was done observing.

When he couldn't hold off anymore, he charged forward, wanting to bond with her like Arnkell had with 'Hiccup'. Einherjar slowed, however, when he noticed her slowly rising from the ground, stiff with, what? Taking a second to re-read her emotions he realized that she was also radiating long festered fear, that it had been covered by her determination and happiness before. The female turned, jittering, and stared at him with big scared eyes, and Einherjar stared back, silently willing her to trust him. He stretched his neck forward and slowly wrapped around her middle several times. She sighed and relaxed slightly, moving her hand to lightly stroke his scales.

Einherjar purred at the lovely sensation of her skin on his scales and then unwound so she could continue doing whatever it was she was doing. The Flesh-Child wobbled slightly, stared at him for a moment longer, then stooped down and started pulling flowers out of the ground. Settling himself down, he simply watched her do this for a while when she stood and started walking toward Arnkell and the other Flesh-Children. In a rush of excitement, Einherjar quickly wrapped his neck around her again and picked her right off the ground. She shrieked and wrapped her thin arms and legs around his, squeezing tightly. Toothless roared at him and his Hiccup jumped on him, immediately following Einherjar.

When they all landed, the female did not release him. She seemed to be latched on and never planned on letting go. Hiccup came over and talked to her until she finally released him and Arnkell, err Toothless, glared at him the entire time. Then the little Flesh-Girl did something her hadn't planned on. She launched herself at him and hugged his head to her neck lovingly. When she was done she turned toward the hilltop again and groaned. "Hiccup...where's Thistle?"

(Hiccup)

Hiccup stared at Stone in slowly growing horror. While he had mainly recovered from the panic attack brought on by the one-headed Zippleback's actions, he slowly realized that he had been so frightened for Stone being grabbed that he had completely forgotten Thistle at the top of the mountain.

"Good job," Stone groaned, looking up at the mountaintop. "_That's_ how you make new friends, Hiccup."

"Oh suffering scallops," Hiccup groaned and leaped for Toothless. Toothless began to tense himself up to soar back into the air – and then he stopped cold and roared in outright fury. "What?" Hiccup gasped, but then Stone let out a yell of surprise.

"_Look!_"

Hiccup's mouth dropped open as the plummeting form of a Night Fury made itself visible against the brown and green of the mountainside. More horrifying to the eye, however, was the flapping form of Thistle, holding on to the dragon's tail for dear life. The dragon seemed to be holding his tail as stiff as possible as he skimmed the rocks, but it was obvious that Thistle was being slightly thrown around by the air currents.

"_Thistle!_" Stone shouted in horror. Hiccup could do nothing but watch as the dragon dropped towards them, hoping it would be able to pull out of the dive, and wondering how in Thor's name it was going to get Thistle down without hurting her.

The dragon answered his question. Seconds before impact, it snapped open its wings with a roar of effort, and swung its tail down towards the ground. Thistle yelped and let go. She hit the ground and fell from inertia, but was soon struggling back to her feet. She made it up just as the Night Fury beat its wings twice, powerfully lifting itself out of reach. With another roar, it angled itself and blasted away through the trees.

"Thistle! Are you all right?" Stone gasped, running to her friend. The one-headed Zippleback stretched its neck forward as well, looking concerned.

"Yes," Thistle said. "I…need to learn how to fly though. I doubt I am supposed to ride on the tail." She had a strange expression on her face, caught between amazed wonder and profound relief. Her voice sounded breathy as ever, but oddly flat. Stone leaned over to try and look into her eyes, and Thistle granted her the stare.

"No," Hiccup laughed nervously. "You're not supposed to ride on the tail. It's easy to get sick if you do that."

His heart wasn't evidently in the joke, and both girls let him know it with a hard stare (Stone), and a flick of the eyes (Thistle). He sighed. "So…what was that?"

"A Night Fury," Thistle replied.

While Stone suppressed chuckles at Thistle's somewhat teasing response, Hiccup rolled his eyes. "I know _that_, but…"

"I see him sometimes. If I am sitting outside by the cliffs, he will come and sit beside me. I think he is the same Night Fury that attacks the village. But he is…patient with me. He is jumpy, like…" Thistle trailed off and gestured to Toothless, "…but he is not mean."

"It looks like you're taming your own dragon without even trying," Hiccup said encouragingly. "Maybe Stone will have the same luck."

"No," Thistle murmured, "I am not tra-Stone?" She looked up and only then seemed to register the Zippleback peeking over Stone's shoulder. "_Stone_! You have…_a dragon_? I thought he had carried you off!"

Her expression almost brought tears of laughter to Stone's eyes. "H-how did you miss that?" she asked, bubbling with laughter. "H-he's been fo-following me around the rock for the p-p-past hour!"

Thistle flushed even more. "I...I..." After several seconds, she gave up and offered another small smile.

(Lexus)

The world in front of them touched the heavens, long fingers of black rock reaching up to pluck Jupiter himself from his throne. Neptune's angry seas lashed at the edges of this new land, and the slaves rowing the tiny ship strained against what had to be a seabed laden with cold, hard dirt. One of them - a small beauty with thick, ebony hair, olive skin and piercing light blue eyes - cast a look back at the grand _Isis_, sitting tall and proud under the icy sun. The magnificent ship sank too deep at keel to come any closer, so she had sent out her children to investigate the frantic whispers of 'here be dragons!'

This small young lady - Captain Theocles' personal slave, Lexus - pressed her thin lips together and stood up behind her master as the boat touched land. With feline grace and cold audacity, she stepped behind him onto the grey sand of Berk.

The Romans had arrived.

**Ooooh, Cliffhanger and Romans! What will happen to the trio now?**

***face palm* I am so terribly sorry that is has taken a MONTH to update. I feel terrible. Don't blame Silver2018, her parts have been done for a while, it was my fault. Well its up now, I guess that's all that counts, **

**Disclaimer: HTTYD does not belong to Prisoner of Pain or Silver2018, Stone, Einherjar and Mole Heinrickson belong to Prisoner of Pain, Thistle and Touch (Dava) belongs to Silver2018.**

**R&R please, they make us so happy!**


	6. Chapter 6 On the Spot

Chapter 6: On the Spot

The trip back to the village was wreathed in silence. Thistle's earlier reaction of shock had quickly been buried and Stone kept busy trying to sell herself on the fact that she was leading a dragon to her home. Plus, she could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on, and so her footsteps were longer and more anxious, trying to return to Ms. Heinrickson's hut before it hit her full force. No amount of medicine in the world would be able to stop one of these headaches when it hit full strength. Or so Stone knew. Maybe this little miracle plant would tell the difference.

Hiccup, for his part, kept silent as well. Occasionally, however, his eyes would drift to Thistle, walking softly on Toothless's other side. Even now, she seemed to be doing all she could to keep her distance from him, giving Stone the place at his left side. Stone's words hurt him inside with a pain he could almost feel. "You could rip her heart out again." And of course, Astrid's accusation: "Those that follow you around for years..." How long had Thistle been watching him? How long had she stuck to the shadows and wondered where her best friend had gone? And how, how, HOW had he done it? There had to have been some reason, some surefire forbidden action that kept him from going to her. But no matter how hard he racked his brain, he just couldn't think of it. It was just too long ago.

He wondered, briefly, if Thistle had become attached to him in more than a friendly way the longer the two of them had been apart. He hoped not, because what he felt for the girl right now was a mix of overwhelming guilt and a deep-seated hope that their friendship could restart. He felt pretty sure that it would be best to apologize and run if romance came into the picture. He didn't want to hurt her anymore.

The upcoming problem was Stone. Dirty-blonde, blue-eyed, hard little Stone. So much like Astrid except making up in the one area Astrid was lacking: connection. Hiccup had connected with Stone upon their first meeting, of that he had no doubt. She was a young woman in just as much pain as he, too tough to confess it, and too fragile to endure it alone. If this flower helped with her headaches, it would be as much a relief to Hiccup as Stone. And...Hiccup couldn't help but wonder...after a little time had passed of course...if maybe Stone would be okay with flying her newfound dragon with him. Kind of like a date. Ish.

Except if that happened, he had to be okay with Thistle. The girls came as a package deal, and he had to be fine with both before even considering anything else.

Still, it was a thought that stuck in his mind as they reentered the village. It was only Astrid's very surprised screech that snapped him out of his thinking.

Astrid couldn't really say anything. She was more staring in complete shock as Stone walked by her, guiding the one-headed Zippleback with a sure hand. Stone, for her part, only faltered once, allowing a tiny smirk to crawl across her face at Astrid's dumbfounded expression. The twins, however, were having a downright party, whooping and hollering around the procession as they crossed through the village center a second time. Their excitement was limited to Stone, however - Hiccup noticed Tuffnut glancing at Thistle every few moments before rejoining his sister's antics. Remembering Thistle pressed into Tuffnut's side that morning, Hiccup found himself feeling just a little better about keeping the relationship between himself and the shy girl platonic. Once he managed to talk to her, that was.

"Watch out, Astrid, she's got a dragon now!" Ruffnut howled.

"One-headed Zipplebacks are just as dangerous!" Tuffnut joined in. "Gas and flame in one go! Tick tick BOOM!" He threw his hands up, and danced back behind Toothless, making the dragon grunt at him. Hiccup patted his best friend's nose and Toothless rolled his eyes very obviously. Get OVER it, he seemed to be saying.

After the encounter with the second Night Fury, Toothless had seemed to loosen up, his earlier grumpy mood fading. Hiccup wondered if he was just lonely, and made some silent promises to himself to a: fly Toothless more often, and b: look for that other Night Fury in an attempt to find his dragon a friend.

"So is that what was so scary? Finding Stone a dragon?"

Hiccup turned his head to see Tuffnut walking alongside Thistle, having materialized from the other side of the dragon. Thistle, for her part, was slowly beginning to flush and lowered her head slightly. "Scary for Stone," she murmured.

"Well she's just as brave as you, and you're really brave," Tuffnut awkwardly muttered. "Her parents got killed by a dragon and now she's training one. That's brave. So...uh...why don't you have a dragon?"

"I..." Thistle paused and started to look at Tuffnut, but then seemed to think better of it. "I am not finished with training."

"Well...when you go look for one, you can come with me. Hiccup's not the only brave man in this village." Tuffnut's voice carried a slight challenge in it that Hiccup carefully ignored. He was well-aware that the village itself did not care much for him. Spending all of his time with Toothless did not a social Hiccup make, but he didn't want to start an argument with Tuffnut right now. The air was thick with enough tension streaming from the stressed Stone and the fuming Astrid.

The small group made their way to Ms. Heinrickson's hut, (Ruffnut pulling her brother quietly away from Thistle). The village doctor promptly sat down when Stone came in and told her new dragon to wait for her outside. She looked as though she was about to faint for several seconds before finally taking the plant and beginning to mash it up. Stone took a seat, the headache growing by the minute now. Hiccup sat near her, keeping his hands to himself but wishing he could try and rub her temples. That was supposed to help. Instead, he watched Ms. Heinrickson work, mashing up the bits of the plant, steeping them in water like tea, and heating it over a fire. The whole thing looked like a funny vegetable soup and gave off a slightly spicy scent, but there was no mistaking the genuine hope springing into Stone's eyes as Ms. Heinrickson poured some of the mixture into a bowl and handed it to her. From the other side of the room where she had been staring off into space, Thistle moved forward, her dark green eyes alight with curiosity and hope. Hiccup tried to smile at her, but she didn't look at him, and he turned back to Stone, watching her drink.

When Stone placed the bowl down, she closed her eyes and let a small smile slip over her face. She sat silently for a few seconds, breathing deeply, whereas Hiccup held his breath in anxiety.

And then her eyes opened.

"It worked," she breathed.

Hiccup felt a rush of joy and a smile break out over his face. Next to him, Thistle let out a squeak of approval. Stone reached up to touch her head and repeated, growing more excited with each phrase: "It...worked. It worked. It worked! It worked!"

Hiccup sprang forward and flung his arms around her in a hug of exuberance, but somewhere around the line his intentions got twisted...because suddenly and without warning his lips were on Stone's in a firm, laughing kiss.

He jerked his head back in surprise, realizing with some interest that her neck was stretched forward too, as though she had initiated the kiss. Next to them, Ms. Heinrickson let out a low chuckle that suddenly choked off. But in his arms, Stone stared at him with a mix of laughter, shock, and then - to his amazement - growing embarrassment. She slowly tried to pull away from him and he let her go.

"About time that happened."

The words would have come from Ms. Heinrickson, but they were utterly neutral in tone. Stomach slowly sinking, Hiccup turned to see Thistle watching the two of them. Her entire body had stiffened, her eyes turned to rocks, her words as flat and wooden as the bottom of a ship. The smile she tried to show came out as a grimace.

"Thistle..." Stone began, but Thistle shook her head.

"I have been waiting for it," she said. "I am...happy you found a cure. I...have to go..."

"Thistle, wait," Stone quickly stepped towards her friend, but Thistle slipped out the door.

"Let her go, child," Ms. Heinrickson interjected as Stone tried to follow. "She will be all right."

"But...she likes Hiccup," Stone said, seeing no reason to hide her friend's secret now that it seemed to be more out than she had ever intended it to be.

"That isn't what this is about," Ms. Heinrickson replied. "Trust me. It'll be all right."

"How do you...?"

"Just trust me. She'll tell you in her own time. Now. Step outside for just a moment. I need to have a word with Hiccup."

Hiccup didn't like Ms. Heinrickson's tone. He liked even less how quickly Stone hurried out.

"Like I said before, if you hurt my apprentice, you'll be losing that other leg." Ms. Heinrickson's words were low, but her voice firm. "Especially now that you have that kind of attention from her. You need to grow up a little more, Hiccup, now that you have that effect on women."

"I know. I need to stop spending so much time with Toothless. It's just..."

"You need to take responsibility for how you treat people, too. Having a shouting match with your former girlfriend in the middle of the village is not what the son of a Chief would do."

"What? She started it!" Hiccup wondered where this segue had come from.

"Doesn't matter," Ms. Heinrickson replied. The wise woman stood and walked towards Hiccup, placing her rough hands on his shoulders. "You are the son of the Chief, Hiccup. No one said it was going to be easy. But it is a little harder than what you are used to right now. Just hold your head up. You'll find you're a little taller that way."

Hiccup smiled, and slowly walked out of the hut.

Outside, he had enough time to gather his wits and wonder what to do next. Rather than wait outside, Stone seemed to have vanished. Part of him really wanted to go after her and ask her what had happened in there - and if she wanted to do it again, (wow, that made a blush cross his face; he scrubbed at his cheeks in an effort to make it go away). The other part wanted very badly to find Thistle and get the apology over in one go. She had been avoiding him now, and now that he was getting enough memory back, it was time to end the period of silence between them. He owed her a lot more than words would do, but he hoped his friendship would be enough in time.

Plus, Ms. Heinrickson's words had struck a chord in him. "Just hold your head up. You'll find you're a little taller that way." Thistle seemed to think herself a coward, unable to hold her own against others even in simple conversation. Some of that, Hiccup suspected, came from her shy nature. Some of it came from her experiences. But almost all of it could be proven wrong. She had ridden a Night Fury's tail down a mountain. She had endured walking through the village center surrounded by people twice. She had been carried by Toothless and not fallen into a ball in terror. Thistle Snapvine had far more courage than she gave herself credit for and Hiccup was determined to prove that to her.

He hadn't really registered that he started walking until he realized he was looking at the dragon training ring. Inside of it, Thistle stood with Gobber, who was handing her a shield and a sword. Hiccup's eyebrows climbed into his hairline. Thistle had never been trained? Hiccup flashed back to her earlier conversation with Tuffnut. No, she just hadn't finished training. Even if they no longer needed to fight dragons, it was still a good idea to know how to use a blade and shield against a foe. But come to think of it - he'd never seen Thistle in armor.

You never really saw Thistle OR Stone until yesterday anyway.

Well, that was true too.

"Hey. Hiccup."

Hiccup jumped, turning around to see Ruff and Tuff standing behind him. Tuffnut's eyes moved past Hiccup to the training ring, and he groaned. "She'll kill her."

Hiccup glanced back to see Astrid facing down Thistle in the ring. "Oh no," he murmured, and began to move for the ring.

"I got this," Tuffnut said loudly, pushing past him. Ruffnut grabbed Hiccup's arm, holding him in place as Tuffnut hurried for the entrance.

"Let go of me. What's your problem?" Hiccup snapped at Ruffnut.

Ruffnut's eyes narrowed. "You."

Hiccup stared. "Me? What'd I do?"

"Astrid had a point this morning. You're never around anymore. Once you became the big hero - the rest of us became nothing."

Hiccup bristled. "Look, I know the village is mad at me, but you're all full-grown Vikings! You can figure out how to train dragons!"

"That's not the point! Look around you once in a while, Hiccup. Now that we've got no one to fight, no one knows what to do anymore. That little fight you and Astrid had this morning was the most action anyone has seen since you killed that big dragon. You may have helped us for now, but in the long run, what's going to happen?"

"You want me to tell the future?"

"No," Ruffnut said, pressing her hands to her head. Her voice was laced with frustration, and from her eyes darting around, Hiccup slowly began to realize that she was trying to say something but didn't know how to say it. "You need to be a part of this village again. There's more out there than dragons, Hiccup, and you need to realize that. You're the Chief's son, and the Chief's son is abandoning his tribe right after taking away the one purpose we had in our lives!"

That, Hiccup couldn't argue with. It felt like Ruffnut had just stuck a knife in his stomach - a knife laced with Uncomfortable Truth.

"You've already lost Astrid, and she was probably one of the ones who believed in you the most," Ruffnut continued, twisting the knife. "Stone's falling for you - anyone can see that - but if you abandon her too she's one you'll never get back. And Thistle...Thistle's tired. She's run herself into the ground caring for her father and watching us ignore her. This whole village owes her an apology for what we did, especially you."

"What did I do to her?" Hiccup exploded. "I've gone over it and over it and over it..."

"Her mother died, Hiccup. Her mother died and Stoick ordered that we all grieve for her and then get over it. He gave her a Viking funeral and then told us to leave the family alone so they could heal themselves. You, like the rest of us, did what he said. You, like the rest of us, left her alone."

"Wait...so it is my fault, but it isn't my fault?" Hiccup felt his head beginning to hurt from trying to understand.

"Hiccup, she was your best friend. And you never spoke to her again. It's not just one of those 'you left her for a week so she could get over it' things. You completely stopped talking to her. And then her father started keeping her inside because all she would do was stare at you and cry. She wouldn't talk to anyone, and so we all stopped trying."

Hiccup was finding it hard to breathe. He couldn't even imagine himself doing that to someone. "I can't...I don't...know why I did it."

"You were a kid, Hiccup, and your dad was...your dad. You did what he said a long time ago." Ruff started to grin. "A long time ago."

Hiccup wasn't in the mood for lightheartedness right now. "How do you know all of this?"

"Because my brother is also a weak-minded Gronckle, as Astrid said this morning." Ruffnut's voice softened a little, as though letting out a secret. Not that it mattered. Hiccup didn't get it.

"What?"

"Thistle's watched you for all these years, waiting for you to apologize. And my brother's watched her, trying to get up the courage to talk to her. You know my brother. All talk. Useless in action."

"When did Berk become a village of stalkers?" Hiccup groaned.

"We're teenagers," came the rather intuitive reply. "But back to my original point. You need to realize you have a responsibility to us. If you don't want to be with us, then fine. But you cannot abandon the tribe. Stoick doesn't have any more sons and Odin help us if Snotlout becomes Chief next."

That wasn't much better. "I'm trying, Ruff. I really am."

"Try harder. And talk to Thistle later. Tuff's going to have a hard enough time keeping her alive in the ring with Astrid out for blood."

Hiccup gulped and turned back. Tuffnut was standing next to Thistle now, glaring at Astrid.

"Don't watch," Ruffnut advised and gave Hiccup a small push away from the ring. "Go find Stone. I saw her heading back to the hospital hut a few moments after you left."

Hiccup reluctantly headed that way.

(Stone)

Stone hadn't gone far from the hospital hut, and upon seeing Hiccup walk aimlessly towards the training ring, she ran back inside to find a very satisfied Ms. Heinrickson. "Um...what did you say to him?" she asked.

"Just warned him of the consequences of hurting you. Now help me out."

Stone was only too happy to, fighting but failing to overcome the blush that spread from her ears to her neck.

Stone hung around the hospital hut for another hour to help out since she had been shirking her apprentice duties. Her mind, however, seemed glued to their kiss. And Thistle's reaction. Stone felt horrified at what she and Hiccup had probably done to her, she wasn't the only one who leaned in for the kiss, but she couldn't help but be happy that it had happened. After the hour of treating patients and cleaning the shop, Mole shooed her out of the hut to get the sail from the cloth makers. She ran into Hiccup on the way to her house.

"Gods give me strength," she whispered, staring awkwardly at Hiccup who stared back. Stone could feel her cheeks flushing and fought the urge to look away. "Um, hi Hiccup, I'm just, uh, picking up the sail I have to paint," Stone gestured to the package resting on her dragon's back.

"Oh, uh, cool. What do you think you're going to paint on it?"

"I'm not sure yet. Maybe fire," Stone had an idea, but she wanted it to be a surprise. Plus, if he knew how emotionally painful it would probably be, he'd want to come with her.

"Well, I'm sure it will turn out great," he gave her a small smile and stepped closer. Close enough to...to...

At the same time Hiccup and Stone stepped forward, lips connected again. Stone's cheeks practically burst into flames but she easily melted into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Hiccup's neck. Hiccup then placed his hands on her hips and pulled her closer, squishing her into him. All that mattered at that moment was each other and their fiery embrace.

When they finally ran out of air, they pulled apart gasping but stayed hugged together. They stared into each other's eyes, oblivious to anyone around them, which thankfully no one was. After nearly ten minutes of just staring, Stone's Zippleback nudged her with the package held carefully in his mouth, reminding her of what she had to do. She sighed softly before releasing Hiccup. He also released her, watching her with sad eyes.

"Do you really have to go?" he asked softly. Stone giggled and tapped his nose.

"Yes, its my job. You should get to yours too ya know."

"I know but...This just happened so fast."

"Would you rather we had waited a month before either of us made a move?" Stone asked quietly.

"No!" he cried grasping her hands. "I'm glad we shared our feelings, even if this is the longest time we've spent together since we met several years ago.," he joked even though it was true. Who knew feelings could crop up so fast? It certainly wasn't love yet, but it was a relationship.

Twenty minutes later, after setting the sail up on the floor of her house, Stone sat beside it, scribbling in her sketchbook. The elders had said they wanted something tough looking, but still in Stone's free-flowing style. She had decided on a close up of a Ferocious Nightmare breathing fire in a way that looks like it could hit you if you were standing in front of it. She hated Ferocious Nightmares to no end, but it would be the best for this particular painting. The fire would be several colors, swirly, like the marks on Stone's hands.

After sketching her rough-draft of the picture in the book, Stone gathered her paints and supplies and drew the general outline in coal on the crisp white sail. Reds, yellows, oranges, blues, purples, they all swirled and blended together with the guidance of her brush. After the fire was to Stone's acceptance she painted the Ferocious Nightmare. When it was done its large eyes seemed to stare right through her and the fire did look like it was coming right at her. With a chocked sob Stone realized it must look like the last thing her parents saw before they died.

She moved away from the sail so her tears wouldn't drip on it and stain it. Curling into a ball, Stone desperately wished she had told Hiccup her idea so he could be with her to comfort her when she heard her door creak open. With tear filled eyes she looked up to see her Zippleback squeezing through the door. It approached her and wrapped its neck around her tenderly. Stone sobbed harder into its body but was, indeed, comforted by the warmth of its scales.

When the last of her tears disappeared she hugged the dragon's head tightly to the crook of her neck. He purred and licked her cheek with a long lizard-like tongue. Stone giggled and released the dragon who had brought her so much happiness and courage in one day when she used to be terrified of it. Courage...courage...

"You really need a name you know that?" she whispered to the sweet Zippleback.

"My name is Stone by the way. But what should I call you?" He roared softly, matching her tone. "How about Courage? You fill me with it all the time and it's only been a few hours!" The dragon bobbed its head up and down in approval. Stone giggled and hugged his head again.

"Alright, Courage it is."

(Lexus)

She plunged through the woods with the other slaves and centurions. Her Master sat, bold and waiting, back on the tender that had come to shore. But the muscular, black-haired Lexus operated as his eyes and ears on this disastrously cold piece of rock. They hadn't encountered any dragons yet, or noticed much more in the way of animal life. The cries of "Dragon!" could have been forged, but Jupiter help the poor soul who had faked a sighting just to get some land time.

"Pretty useless wasteland, isn't it?" the centurion in front cackled out loud.

"I'm all for fewer people to enslave," the other centurion replied. "Less trouble."

"But then it's not as much fun."

They burst through some trees and nearly fell into the gaping ravine before them. With a surprised yelp, one of the slaves slipped and caught himself on a rock, hanging over the edge. Neither of the centurions moved to help him, but Lexus stepped over and pulled him up. As she did so, she noticed something odd sprinkled on the ground below. Without hesitating, she began to climb down the rocks. She couldn't help but be a little taken aback by the beauty of the little ravine. A sparkling blue lake of water rippled in the center of it, surrounded by rich brown soil. Smatterings of green grass near the water's edge hinted at fertility, and the grey-white rocks provided many opportunities for shade and places to climb. Her feet impacted the ground, and she quickly knelt, ignoring the shouts of: "Get back here, slave!" They wouldn't dare kill her, not here. And once they saw what she picked up, they would stop yelling anyway.

She turned around and lifted her hands to them, holding the glittering black scales. "Scales," she said simply. "Dragons do exist here. And one of them comes here often."

A few kilometres away, two black dragons huddled in the shade of some trees. Normally argumentative and unable to be near each other for any period of time, Toothless and Dava now shared a frightened look as the metal-smelling humans invaded Toothless' former prison-turned-sanctuary. Underneath them, another set of five metal-smelling humans hacked their way through the brush. And far away, from the ship, more of them came in groups, slowly but surely making their way towards the unsuspecting village of Berk.

(Tuffnut)

Tuffnut often made fun of Snotlout for his continuous pathetic attempts at asking out the lovely, dangerous Astrid. The two boys sometimes got into serious fistfights over usages of words like 'pansy', 'weak', 'girly' to describe Snotlout's actions and faces whenever Astrid walked by. But Tuffnut had his own secrets to keep, and he just happened to be better at it than Snotlout. Only his ever-present twin sister, with her creepy magic mind abilities to know what he was thinking at all times, even picked up on Tuffnut's sideways glances and far-off stares. And oddly – she chose never to make fun of him for it. In fact, she encouraged him to talk to her about it. It was a remarkable change of character for her – and one he welcomed. After all, it would be quite hypocritical for him to make fun of Snotlout when he himself acted the same way around Thistle Snapvine.

He, like the rest of the village, had mourned the death of Freya Snapvine, but he'd never really paid attention to the daughter she'd left behind. He'd been four, far more interested in cracking rocks and making faces out of his window at the attacking dragons. Five years later, he'd heard the village painter - Stone Magnus - mention a quiet girl named Thistle Snapvine and sheer curiosity had taken him from door to door, looking for this mysterious girl. He'd caught a glimpse of someone fitting her description through a window. Unsure, he'd tossed a rock at her door, and hidden, waiting for her to come out.

When she had, Tuffnut's fate had pretty much been sealed. The girl who had walked out to pick up the rock had a slender – almost underweight - build with a softly rounded face, not square and hard like Astrid's. Her hair had fallen in straight strands of black, and she'd actually reached up and tried to put it back into a bun against the windy cliffs of Berk. Her small nose poked over a small mouth with full lips, and the wide, liquid eyes that skimmed the grass glimmered dark green. Her skin had been pale against the sky to the point that she'd nearly faded into it. She had to be the skinniest and tiniest Viking woman Tuffnut had ever laid eyes on, and he'd silently made a promise to himself that he would be the one to keep her from ever getting broken.

Except as time had gone on, he'd realized she already was broken. So, he had slowly made the change from defense to damage control. Unfortunately, Tuffnut was nowhere near as brave as he buffed himself out to be. He'd been forced to stand and watch her, unable to speak to her and unsure of even what to say. He'd managed a couple 'hi's and even an 'are you all right?', but she had never answered him. In fact, the first real sentence he had gotten out to her was the one he'd dropped that morning - that she wasn't a weak-minded Gronckle.

He chalked it up to trying to outdo Hiccup. After seven years of watching Thistle and talking to Ruffnut and then watching Hiccup do all of that stuff with the Big Dragon, Tuffnut had decided to finally just go for it. And Thistle had replied to him.

He pretty much got braver by the minute now. Which was why he was standing beside her now, facing down a very furious and very battle-hungry Astrid.

He didn't blame Astrid for being mad. She'd really gotten the short end of the stick, what with Hiccup picking his dragon over her. And Snotlout was a good guy, but a little too stupid in the head. He was determined to be the best at everything, but wasn't willing to do the work to do it. Astrid would probably dump him soon unless he shaped up. Plus, there was the whole fight between Stone and Astrid that morning - and the fact that Astrid just didn't like weak people in general.

However, Thistle was far braver than Tuffnut had given her credit for. She was standing in trainee armor, holding a battered wooden shield and a bent sword, and looking directly at...well Astrid's weapons. Tuffnut had a feeling Thistle was incapable of looking anyone in the eye. Or she was paying attention to the weapons because she was waiting to see what they would do.

"The fight isn't two on one, Tuff," Astrid snapped.

"You know Thistle isn't very good," Tuffnut flung back. "You're using this as an excuse to beat up on her."

"She needs to grow a spine on her own, and having you try to build her one won't do her any good. Especially when you insult her like that."

"Insult?" Tuffnut turned to see Thistle looking at the ground and reddening. Her lips parted and she spoke very softly.

"I'm not very good, I know."

"Oh, for the love of Thor," Tuffnut swore. "That's not what I meant, Thistle..."

He didn't finish the sentence. Astrid's hand came out of nowhere and shoved him hard as her axe swung down towards Thistle.


	7. Chapter 7 Attack

Chapter 7: Attack

(Thistle)

Thistle had too much on her mind to go to training. Gobber had told her that today she would be fighting some of the other teens, (whoever decided to show, that was), to sum up what she had learned in the past four weeks. Kind of like a final exam, except she knew she wasn't really done. However, with everything that had happened that day, she knew trying to fight would be useless.

But it was because she had so much on her mind that she went in the first place. She could not get the image of Stone and Hiccup embracing each other out of her mind, nor could she stop the burning flame it ignited in her. She wanted to cry. She wanted to ask why Hiccup was so willing to touch Stone when he hadn't spoken to her for almost twelve years. She wanted to scream at Stone: "He's mine!" And she couldn't do any of it - because they were happy. And who was she to interrupt the happiness of her best friend?

She hadn't expected to be fighting Astrid, but after a few moments' thought, it really came as no surprise. Astrid was one of the top fighters in her age group. What really surprised her was when Tuffnut came sprinting into the ring. Her reaction was odd - her heart thudded against her chest and her body filled with adrenaline. She didn't want him to see her get beaten by Astrid. And she really didn't want to fight him. But as he began to talk to Astrid, Thistle slowly realized that she had no choice. Instead of dragons, she would be taking on them today.

She wished she could figure out what was happening between her and Tuffnut, too. The blond Viking had spoken to her a few times - in fact she had been rather impressed with his tenacity in trying to get her attention. She had been unable to answer out of sheer shyness, but she couldn't help but notice that when he had actually spoken to her last, she had replied. Almost automatically. And the more he spoke to her, the easier it seemed to talk back. She hadn't managed to look at him yet, but something about his voice made her feel better. He was warm too - she had barely noticed the chilly air of Berk when he'd had his arm around her.

She'd spent so much time thinking about Hiccup that Tuffnut's attention came as a real surprise. As did her unexpected pleasure when he tried to keep Astrid from ripping her to shreds. But when he mentioned she wasn't very good, it felt like a blow to the chest. Shamed, she had looked down at the ground, sure that he would stop talking to her now that he'd found a flaw. And she would have been very hurt if Astrid didn't have a habit of screaming a battle cry as she attacked.

She dodged Astrid's first attack by sheer surprise, but the second swing nicked her right shoulder, causing her to drop her shield in pain. Gripping her sword, she swung frantically back at the girl, missing her by a mile. She backed up, off-balance, and tried to listen to the instructions Gobber was screaming at her. But all she saw was Astrid coming at her and Tuffnut struggling back to his feet, trying to arm himself. She froze.

The flat of Astrid's axe thunked on her right shoulder and she dropped to the ground, stunned. The axe came down to encircle her throat, and she stared up at Astrid, outlined against the sun like a goddess. Hot, angry tears spilled out of her eyes, and Astrid groaned and spat on the ground. "Stop crying, get up, and fight!" she shouted in Thistle's face.

Blinded by dust and tears, Thistle crawled to her feet and reached for her shield, taking it up and bracing herself. Astrid rushed her again, and this time Thistle flung herself forward in a panic, dropping low. She caught Astrid's stomach with the shield, but when she tried to lift the girl over her head, she was unable to take the weight, and both of them went down in a heap.

"That's the idea, Thistle!" Gobber belted. "But you're not her landing site! Astrid, take a break!"

"What?" Astrid exploded. "I don't need one!"

"No, but Thistle's got to fight someone who can't drop her in one go! Thistle! Man up! Er...woman up! Viking up! I know you can do better than that! Tuffnut, show her what you got!"

_Oh no_, Thistle thought. _Oh no, no, no!_

"What?" Tuffnut sounded just as amazed as Thistle felt, but he had already armed himself up to help her earlier - so he had no reason to back out. "Gobber...I'll kill her!"

"No you won't. You're too much of a wimp," Gobber shot back. "Now teach each other something!"

Tuffnut bristled - he didn't like being called a wimp. But there was a form of panic in his eyes as he looked at Thistle. Thistle shrugged, thinking _well, he's wide open_, and took a tentative swing. Tuffnut easily dodged it.

"You're not petting a dragon, you're killing an enemy, Thistle!" Gobber roared.

Thistle gulped and planted her feet. Then, she bared her teeth and tried to sound a war cry. A croak issued out of her throat, but her sword arm swung true. Tuffnut countered her sword with his and then swung with his shield. To Thistle's surprise, he pulled the shield at the last minute, swinging it over her head to keep from hitting her. Unexpected anger flooded her and she lifted her head to shout at him.

Gobber drowned her out. "TUFFNUT! SHE'S NOT A DELICATE FLOWER, SHE'S A VIKING WOMAN," he bellowed.

"Sorry," Tuffnut muttered.

"I can't learn if you don't hit me!"

Tuffnut started, blinking at her, and Thistle was surprised to realize that _she_ had said that - and moreover, she was looking _directly_ at him. He had long, white-blond hair, a somewhat wide mouth, and very big, dark brown eyes. He seemed a little taller and bigger than the quick glances she'd seen over the years.

"Stop looking like you've never seen him before, Thistle!"

'_But I haven't...not really.'_

Tuffnut seemed to be as frozen as she was, staring back with a slightly dazed expression. Thistle shook her head and stepped forward again, lifting her shield. Tuffnut jerked and stepped back, pulling his shield in front of him and keeping his eyes on hers. Thistle broke the eye contact and focused on his weapons. She lifted her sword and moved for him. He danced to the side - and she followed, having feinted. Her blade caught his shield and glanced off and she swung her own shield up to counter his blade. The exchange was slow, but the clang of the steel crooked the side of Thistle's mouth. She drew back and looked at Tuffnut again, the small crook in her mouth slowly blossoming into a relieved smile. To her surprise, he began to smile in return. He had a nice smile.

The second exchange was faster, Tuffnut taking the initiative and keeping it. Thistle was forced into backing up, her eyes following his blade like a dragon follows light. Gobber had been frightfully sharp with her on her first lesson weeks ago: she was not a strong girl, and until she got strong he was going to have her focus on defense. Which meant while Thistle was not strong on any of her attacks, when she was on the defense she could hold her own. Mostly.

"Stop him! Good, Thistle! Tuffnut, watch your arm...good hit, good hit!"

Thistle staggered under the weight of that last blow, taking it full on her shield. Now that Tuffnut was getting into the swing of things, he was starting to use more of his strength. She spun to the side, away from him, and turned her shield behind her. The scrape of steel on wood would have been steel on flesh if she hadn't moved her shield, and she turned around to face him.

The fight was not expert on any level - more like two relatively good amateurs swinging at each other. But for Thistle it was one of her better duels, and when it finally ended, even a loss left her smiling, flat on her back in the ring.

"You could have won that one!" Gobber shouted, swinging down. "Why did you give up?"

"I...did...not," Thistle panted, pulling herself to her feet. "I...tripped."

"Oh, Thor help us if you trip on the field!" Gobber groaned, but he did pat her shoulder. "Better luck next time."

"That was kind of good. For a _girl_," Tuffnut teased. Thistle tried to look at him, finding that she wanted to playfully insult him right back. But for some reason her eyes wouldn't move. The magic cast by the duel seemed to have run out, and her old embarrassment set in. Looking down at the ground, she murmured: "That was fun."

"C'mon, Thistle, look at me." His voice had a note of pleading in it. "Don't do this again."

Across the ring, Thistle saw Astrid glaring at her, having watched the whole thing. She felt a rush of inferiority, of judgement, as though the blonde girl had been analyzing her all the way through, and finding nothing but fault.

"Thistle, _please_."

"I have to go," Thistle whispered. She ducked her head and ran.

"See?" Astrid said, coming up next to Tuffnut. "She doesn't have a spine."

"She fought," Tuffnut replied, glaring angrily at Astrid. "She actually fought me."

"She's afraid of me. That fear will get her killed on the battlefield."

"And what battlefield are _you_ talking about?" Tuffnut retorted, and stalked out of the ring, leaving Astrid to wonder.

Thistle didn't want to go home that night. The day had been so long, so full of emotion, that going home and seeing her father passed out in a different position on a newly dirtied floor would have probably resulted in a crying jag that could last for hours. Instead, she started to head for her customary place on the cliffs, wondering if Touch would show up that night so she could thank him for his help on the mountaintop that day. She stopped halfway there, realizing that if she wanted to thank him, she should bring him a fish. Which meant she needed to go fishing.

Reluctantly, she headed for her home, pushing the door open silently and stealing in. To her sad relief, her father was not there. There were some dirtied dishes by the wash bucket, but no suggestion of any other horrible mess for her to clean. She didn't wonder where he had gone to since that morning - most of the men of the village were out on a hunting trip, and her father would have gone after them once he realized he'd slept through departure time.

She slipped out with a fishing pole and bait, gliding into the forest towards the fishing hole. She could get on a boat and go out to sea and fish a little, or she could stick to the island ponds. This late at night, it would have to be the ponds. She didn't much like the idea of climbing down to the beach in the dark.

The night above was a little more foreboding than last night. Instead of gleaming silver moonlight, thin bands cut through the approaching clouds. The dragon was pulling a blanket over him tonight - maybe it was too cold. As she walked, crunching softly through the underbrush, Thistle shivered in spite of herself. This would be a quick trip. Maybe she could promise him a better fish tomorrow night. Assuming he came back.

She burst through the trees and looked down at the ravine before her. A strong memory, overwhelming in senses, made her stagger.

_I found this place by accident. On one of my daily walks from the bustling village of Berk, I saw a swath of ground cut open and blackened by a furious force. Sheer curiosity drew me along that ebony path until a gateway of branches and leaves opened into a sunlit clearing dotted with open emerald grass and sparkling sapphire water. My breath would have been taken away by the sight - if not for the sight itself. For there sat my childhood friend, a boy who had probably forgotten my name. He rested peacefully on a rock beside an onyx monster, drawing calmly in the copper sand._

Thistle choked on a sudden emotion as she looked down into the ravine where she had accidentally stumbled upon Hiccup and Toothless meeting a mere two months ago. She remembered watching in mute horror and deep fascination as Toothless had drawn in the sand, and Hiccup had watched - and then moved to step on the lines Toothless had drawn.

_A small squeak spit out of my mouth as I realized he was playing with the dragon. Hiccup. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, son of Stoick the Vast, a reedy whelp working in a blacksmith shop in hopes of cultivating muscles that seemingly didn't exist, was playing with a Night Fury._

_And then he wasn't playing anymore._

_He was dancing._

_As the dragon watched, its golden-green eyes wide, and as I watched, my throat catching in sudden emotion, Hiccup lifted his arms and began to twirl and step, dodging in and out of the lines drawn on the ground. Like a dragon whirling through the air, or a bird navigating clouds, his body responded to the input from his focused green eyes warning him of each new obstacle. His red brown hair lifted off his neck and his fur-covered vest flew out behind him._

Tears slid down Thistle's cheeks as she climbed down to the fishing pond. Her feet padded along the ground and very quiet sobs hitched her shoulders.

_Hiccup reached up his hand and a sob escaped my throat. I closed my eyes at first overwhelmed by fear, and then opened them again, overwhelmed by beauty, and the need to see this bonding between man and beast, boy and dragon. We were supposed to kill the creatures. We weren't supposed to have our hands extended towards them, our heads turned away as though too terrified to even look at the things that are supposed to kill us in return._

_The dragon hesitated, started to move his head, stopped..._

_...closed its eyes..._

_...and touched Hiccup._

Thistle sat down at the edge of the pond, beginning to bait her hook. Shy of the beauty of the memory that was now fading into the back of her mind, she felt instead a sense of deep, limitless loss. Only that morning she had made a promise to not let Hiccup's newfound friendship die off. And that night, she realized it was gone again - because his arms had been around Stone. Now Stone had Hiccup and Hiccup had Stone and Thistle would be an intruder to them. It was best, then, to simply do what she had done years ago. Allow herself to fade into the background.

_What about Tuffnut?_

Thistle began to bait her hook, a little surprised that the question had even come up. Sure, Tuffnut was nice. Nicer than she'd expected. And he was not so bad-looking either. Or a bad fighter. He'd even tried to protect her from Astrid. Wasn't that what a friend did? Had she made friends with him without realizing it?

If she had, it would make fading into the background more difficult. She didn't want to do to Tuffnut what Hiccup had done to her.

She cast the hook into the water. It made a tiny splash, ripples extending out and shaking the beams of light across the peaceful surface.

_I don't want to think anymore. I just want to fish._

Lost in thought, Thistle did not hear Lexus' soft footsteps.

(Hiccup)

_The Gods hate me._

Hiccup pounded his fist into the side of the house, ignoring the sharp pain where the wood cut his knuckles.

_Some people lose their knife or their mug._

He half-stomped, half-limped from one end of the house to the other, stalking the stable, even going so far as to climb up on the roof to look - a daunting task thanks to the metal foot but not impossible. He was gradually getting used to balancing his weight onto the small steel stump.

_No, not me. I managed to lose an ENTIRE DRAGON?_

Toothless was gone. And Hiccup wasn't sure if he was feeling rage, panic, or paralyzing fear. He'd first noticed the dragon's absence about an hour ago, when he'd started to realize that he hadn't taken Toothless flying when they got back from the mountaintop. He'd gotten distracted with Stone...totally lost track of time...wandered around trying to find Thistle for a little while when he realized she had left the training ring...and finally headed home, where Toothless was supposed to be. And wasn't.

Only then had Hiccup clued in that he hadn't seen his dragon since he walked into the hospital hut to make Stone's medication. An hour later, he still hadn't found him.

"Toothless!" he shouted. "_Where are you?_"

No answer. Well, not one he expected.

"Hiccup!"

"Ms. Heinrickson..?" Hiccup hobbled fiercely back to the front of his house, looking down the doctor with her hands full of plants. "Have you seen Toothless?"

"Not since you came to the hut this afternoon," Ms. Heinrickson replied, a look of concern crossing her face. She shot a glance around as though Toothless would drop out of the sky at any moment. "Are you sure he's not just out hunting?"

"He's never been gone this long!" Hiccup said frantically. "And he needs me to fly!" Which wasn't entirely true - Toothless was nowhere near completely independent, but he could fly-hop short distances before his tail pulled him back to the ground. That made hunting difficult but not impossible. "He can't be that far! I'm going to go look for him."

"No, Hiccup, wait..." Ms. Heinrickson struggled to balance the herbs in her hands. "Wait just a moment."

"I have to go," Hiccup repeated. "Toothless has been acting weird all day. Something could be wrong..." He could sense what he was feeling now, the growing hysteria in his voice and the trembling beginning in his hands. Toothless had never been gone for more than a few hours. He looked up at the doctor, green eyes brightening in panic. "I have to at least _try_ to find him."

"I know," Ms. Heinrickson said firmly. "I know I can't stop you. But I'm going with you. You can't run off into the forest alone with your leg like that. Just...come with me to my hut while I drop off these herbs."

Hiccup needed no further urging. He bolted as fast as he could into the house, grabbing some fish and a torch, slipping his knife into his belt, and then stagger-running back out. Ms. Heinrickson was already most of the way to her hut, and Hiccup chased her down.

(Touch)

In the middle of spitting yet another tiny flame at Touch, Arnkell fell to the ground, groaning in frustration as his tail failed. Chuckling in glee, Touch soared down to nibble at the strange human contraption on the tail of the tamed fire-breather. Catching the edge of the red cloth, Touch pulled it very gently with his teeth, snapping it back into position. Arnkell had managed to communicate to him that the cloth needed to sit just so in order for him to be able to fly in any usable manner, and Touch had dropped back to monitor his tail and try to hold it in position whenever it looked like Arnkell was losing lift. It was a hard job, but not above the intelligent yet hotheaded Night Fury.

For kicks, Touch shot a smug little flame back at Arnkell, who snorted and took off again, masking himself against the clouded sky. Touch quickly beat up after him, worry mixing with panic and fear. The strange humans he had smelled earlier on in the day came from their ships in waves now. That morning, they had only been in small groups, but now they were spreading out all over the beach and sending more and more of themselves into the woods, exploring the land they had landed on. Each of their forays took them closer and closer to the cliffs of Berk, and Arnkell's human friends had no idea they were coming. Which meant they were all in Very Big Trouble.

Even worse, Touch remembered that he had seen a lot of the male humans leaving a few days before. That meant that many of the other humans - including the younger ones - would be defenseless if the metal-smelling humans decided to attack them. Thus, Arnkell and Touch had come up with a Fiendishly Clever Plan.

Well - Arnkell had done the thinking. Touch had done the communicating. He may have been hotheaded and fairly untested on the real battlefield, but with Arnkell at his side he had gotten the required attentions. Arnkell had rounded up some of the wilder dragons and show them the invasion getting ready to take place. It hadn't taken much convincing after that to get the dragons to agree that the village-of-friendly-humans was _their_ village and these evil-smelling humans couldn't have it. So while the bad humans snuck closer and closer to _their_ village, the dragons stalked them through the trees.

That should have been a comfort to the two circling Night Furies, knowing they were watching the danger-makers. Except the friendly-humans, in all their friendliness, had a tendency now to attract trouble through stupid actions. Like going out at night. That was very stupid. And right now, three of the humans were being very stupid. One of them was Arnkell's own master, accompanied by an older-looking female. The other - was the human female who had attracted Touch's attention.

While Arnkell watched his master, Touch kept an eye on the girl who often spent so much time alone. She had to be very very lonely, always sitting on the edges of the cliffs and staring out to sea until she couldn't even move from the cold. He'd had to fly down and light a little fire for her one night lest she fall off of the cliff. She was quiet, and gentle, and totally accident-prone (she'd almost fallen off the mountaintop earlier that day running after Arnkell and Touch had had to stop her), and he slowly had been drawn to her. He had a feeling that someday she might be his rider, and in order to do that he had to keep her alive. Which was kind of a challenge right now, what with all the stinky humans about.

A low rumble of thunder growled through the air, and Touch buffeted against the sudden blow of cold wind. He shot sideways and caught Arnkell's tail just as it folded in and snapped it back out in one go. Arnkell regained his balance in the air and fired a shot at Touch.

_Hey! I just helped you!_ Touch shot one back and snorted. Arnkell had no sense of respect sometimes.

And then the battle cry hit their ears. Beneath them, the land came alive as the metallic-smelling humans stumbled onto the borders of the village. With a roar, Arnkell heeled over, folded his wings, and shot off for the village. Touch glanced down to see the quiet girl gone, ripples marking the spot where she had been fishing. He hoped she was running back to the village. In the distance, he could see some metal-smelling humans running away, and Arnkell's master sprinting through the trees as well.

He folded his wings and banked for Berk.

(Stone)

Stone was in her house when the shouts reached her ears. She was waiting for the sail to dry so she could pack it, but she quickly sprinted out the door with Courage behind her. They were met with chaos. Dragons were attacking and so were some strange people. Stone couldn't really tell if the dragons were attacking Berk or were attacking the people because the sun was already down.

She started to run out toward the village when Courage wrapped around her and lifted her up. Still unused to the sensation, Stone squeaked and gripped him tightly until he dropped her on his back at his neck's base. Quickly catching on, she wrapped her arms around his neck and dangled her legs on either side of it. He took off.

Squeaking again, she gripped tighter until the sensation of flying again overtook her. She relaxed and looked around the village. From this new angle, it was obvious that the dragons were, indeed, attacking the intruders instead of the villagers, but the darkness of the night still made it slightly confusing. The moon was mostly blocked by rain clouds that looked like they could pour down on them at any second. Thunder shook Stone through her very core and lightning flashed so close to her that she quickly became spooked, but she stayed firm.

"Courage!" Stone shouted over the chaos and the roar of the wind and dragons. He looked back and her and she pointed down to a group of the intruders getting ready to attack a house. Understanding what she meant, Courage dived and shot fire down at them, scorching their armor and sending some of them off at a run. Others shot arrows at them and Stone quickly pinched the side of his neck with her hand, hoping he would turn in that direction. He, thankfully, did.

Stone's completely novice flying skills and Courage not used to carrying someone put them at a disadvantage, but they made it work. To get Courage to turn she would simply put pressure on the side of his neck that she wanted him to turn to. To fire, she had to call out and point, which was a slow process because it was so loud, but they managed to scatter some people and burn some arrows.

The battle stopped at quickly as it started. Suddenly, the attackers turned and fled back to their ships. Analyzing the ships sails, Stone realized they were Romans, a place Boulder had told her about once upon a time, and that they had a slave ship with them. She was suddenly very aware that she hadn't seen some of her friends during the battle. Quickly, she pushed down on Courage's neck, encouraging him to dive and land. Stone felt no excitement in the dive like she had the other day on Toothless.

When they landed, Stone ran to look for her friends. It probably would have been better to look from Courage's back in the sky, but it had started to rain. She found Ruffnut, who said she knew where Tuffnut was, Snotlout, Astrid and Fishlegs, but there was no sign of Thistle, Mole, or Hiccup. Feeling tears begin to tug at her heart, she ran harder and faster, nearly plowing over Hiccup when she found him.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" she cried hugging him tightly. He hugged her back but when she looked into his eyes she found sadness.

"What's wrong? Who's gone?" she demanded, squeezing his arms.

"Stone...They took some dragons, Ms. Heinrickson and Thistle." Stone's eyes gushed tears before they, without warning, rolled back in her head as she lost consciousness. If it hadn't been for Hiccup's arms around her she would have fallen right into the dirt.

When she awoke, it was thirty minutes later and she was curled up on Courage's back with Toothless watching her sadly. The memories of what had just happened felt like several knives to her heart. Swallowing back the sadness she slid down Courage's back and approached the battleground. If Mole was gone, that meant she would have to take care of the injured Vikings. She rushed to the hospital hut, gathered a large bundle of bandages, disinfectant salves, rags, and water.

In the rain, she treated the people who were bleeding heavily first, quickly cleaning and wrapping their many cuts before starting the people who had arrows sticking out of them. One of the arrow victims was Tuffnut. Stone immediately got to work, spreading salve around the edges of the arrow before trying to remove it.

"Why are you treating me? And have you seen Thistle?" he suddenly asked as Stone tried working the arrows metal tip out of his shoulder without cutting more skin. She figured it was to distract him and to reassure himself that Thistle was safe. When had he taken such a liking to her?

"Promise me you'll let me finish before you do something stupid?" Tuffnut nodded numbly, his light-hearted easy going nature abandoning him. Stone sighed, feeling her eyes collect tears and her shoulders shake slightly.

"The attackers took them," she whispered, her voice cracking slightly. Tuff's eyes blazed and he started to stand but Stone grabbed his long hair and yanked him back down.

"You're not running around with an arrow sticking out of your shoulder, even if you _could_ bring the ships back," her voice was stern, imitating the voice Mole used when a patient got skittish and tried to leave. Tuffnut glared daggers at her.

"How can you just sit here treating people when your best friend and mentor have been kidnaped? Do you not care?" he demanded. Stone looked up from his shoulder, her face paler then normal from her held-back tears, her insomnia rimmed eyes filled with sadness, anger, tears...and acceptance.

"I can stay here and treat people because its my job, and I know that if I get these people healed, we'll have a better chance when they attack next time, and a better chance at getting them back. We just have to be patient! How dare you think I don't care!" Stone's voice started off calm but ended up shouting in his face. Tuffnut's eyes widened and he muttered an apology.

The rain lightened after that and after two hours of cleaning wounds, ripping out arrows, and wrapping bleeding gashes, Stone was done. Her arms felt as though dragons had trampled over them and after a week of barely any sleep, she was ready to collapse. She stalked numbly to the hospital hut, where she had to stay for the week so she could finish stitching people and remove the stitches off the healed people.

She fell on top of the bed Mole had gotten her for when she had a particularly bad headache or accident and curled into a ball, stressing her own stitches on her lower back.. Just as sleep was about to capture her, she heard a knock on the door. Groaning, she stood and crossed through the many rooms to the door. When Stone openedit, she found Hiccup standing there with an apologetic expression and about ten dragons behind him. The rain had stopped.

"They need treatment," he stated when she stared at him, too tired to ask.

"Give me a moment," Stone murmured as she walked back into the hut. When she came back out, her entire head was wet and her arms were filled with the dragon supplies Mole had, thankfully, just taught her to use the other week.

"What did you..?" Hiccup asked, staring at her soaked head.

"I've hardly slept in a week and the rain has stopped. I needed to do something to keep me awake." Stone set her stuff down before going inside for a stool to sit on. When she returned she noticed that the first dragon was a Ferocious Nightmare.

'_Well, of course it is, Stone. What did you expect? The Gods seem to hate you, so why_ not_ a Ferocious Nightmare?_'A voice in Stone's head said this as she sat next to the dragon with a cringe, briefly making her wonder if she was going insane.

After another long hour of treating patients, Stone felt sure that her hands were going to fall off. Hiccup looked at her with concerned eyes and hugged her tenderly. Her arms were too sore to move though, so she couldn't hug him back.

"Hiccup, what if we don't get them back?" Stone whispered. Hiccup released her and looked her straight in the face.

"We will. Don't even bother with the 'what ifs'. We'll get them back. Together." Stone gave a small but genuine smile and stood, yawning.

"Okay. Next task, falling asleep, and staying asleep," Stone muttered after giving Hiccup a small peck on the cheek and starting to walk back inside with her stool and the remainder of her supplies.

"Um, wait!" Hiccup called after her. Stone turned slightly and looked over her shoulder.

"Yes, Hiccup?"

"Um, uh, are we...like a c-couple now?" Stone may not have been his first girlfriend the question still made him nervous. She thought for a moment, looking up at the dark sky, before looking at him again.

"I'd say we are...If that's alright with you." After seeing Hiccup nod enthusiastically, Stone gave another small smile before entering the hut and closing the door behind her.

**Hi! This is Silver2018 - thinking I would throw in just a little note here. For anyone who read my original oneshot, you'll recognize part of Thistle's earlier thoughts. Yes indeed, that was the original inspiration for Thistle's character. Hope you liked the little connection. :-)**


	8. Chapter 8 Torment

Chapter 8: Torment

_(Flashback following Mole)_

_Hiccup and Mole sprinted into the forest together after dropping the stuff of at the hospital. No one currently required any medical assistance so Mole was free to do as she pleased, and right now, she wanted to help Hiccup find his dragon and maybe talk to him about Stone some more._

_After nearly half an hour of searching and screaming Toothless' name, Hiccup looked like he was about to collapse in tears._

'_Teenagers truly are a never ending spring of emotions,' Ms. Heinrickson thought, absently remembering all the mood swings Stone sometimes had, even if she denied them later. Her apprentice really was something else._

_"So, Hiccup. Are you and Stone an item now?" She didn't want to embarrass the boy, but she needed to know, and she wanted to distract Hiccup from his mounting worries._

_"Um, I-I don't know yet. We haven't really discussed it yet," Hiccup's face seemed to get redder and redder as he spoke._

_"Well I think you should snatch her up before she gets thinking. If she gets the idea that she's not good enough for you, they will be no getting to her. I was terribly surprised when she agreed to let you help her, it took me forever to get her used to coming to me when she had a problem."_

_"Why would she think she's not good enough for me?" Hiccup questioned with interest even though he still scanned the skies._

_"Stone grew up thinking she wasn't good enough. It only heightened when he parents died. She blames herself for that too ya know," Ms. Heinrickson decided there was no need to keep Stone's secret from him. He would find out eventually, and it was better he knew how to handle it before hand._

_"What? Why?" Hiccup gasped._

_"Don't tell her I told you any of this, but she idolized the warriors when she was young. But as she got older, it became apparent that she wasn't a warrior. She couldn't concentrate enough to actually go onto a real battlefield but did fine in the training ring. Her parents always tried to get her onto a battlefield with other warriors, but Stone would always get distracted and hurt. She has plenty of battle scars. Her parents never stopped trying though, and when they literally "died trying", Stone blamed herself for not being strong enough to fight in battle by herself. That's probably when her headaches started actually, after the attack."_

_"That's ridiculous! It wasn't her fault she was born that way! And they were Vikings, dying in battle is a perfectly normal thing!" Hiccup fumed. Mole chuckled at his reaction._

_"If you could get Stone to believe that, I'd be forever in your debt," Mole joked, but it was true. If Hiccup would make her apprentice happy again, she'd never forget._

_"I'll try my best," Hiccup mumbled, little confidence in his voice._

_"Oh I don't doubt you. You have my permission by the way."_

_"Permission? Permission to do what?" Before Mole could answer Hiccup's naive question, they were attacked. People in strange clothing and armor burst out of the dark night, releasing a battle cry. Neither Ms. Heinrickson nor Hiccup was prepared. The people pointed bows strung with arrows at them and began to encircle them. But before the circle closed, Mole made a decision. She and Hiccup both weren't getting out together, so she would make sure Hiccup got away first._

_Surprising everyone around her, Mole suddenly turned and pushed Hiccup out of the circle before it could close, yelling at him to run. He obeyed but kept looking back at her, slowing himself down._

_"Don't worry about me, get yourself and the village safe!" she yelled as the people angrily attacked her. One of the strangers barked an order for one of the men to follow Hiccup, but Mole wasn't going to have that. Leaping at the man, she braced her first two fingers by curling in the rest of them and placing her thumb underneath the two, and struck several nerves on his uncovered back. A smirk of victory fought it's way onto her face as the man fell to the ground with a thump. The others of his group gasped and began to focus on Mole, seemingly forgetting about the boy with the metal foot as they fought with her._

_Mole was no stranger to being in battle, but it had been quite a while and she was out of shape. She'd spent so much time comforting and teaching Stone along with her normal life and job that'd she'd missed out on the last months of dragon battling. Not that she was complaining. She loved Stone dearly, but she didn't seem to be helping her much, besides giving her a shoulder to cry on, which Thistle and now Hiccup were perfectly suited to give her. It gave her happiness to know that Stone would be cared for without her, because these people obviously weren't going to give up._

_Pressing nerves was the best, weaponless, way to fight for a doctor. She knew which nerve endings caused pain, comfort, for certain body parts to loss mobility for short amounts of time, and even loss of consciousness. Mole often pushed nerves to knock her patients out during particularly painful treatments or when they fought back. Even though Mole wouldn't admit it, she'd even used it on Stone when the girl was in very terrible pain._

_Mole struck several wrists coming at her, causing shrieks of pain to ring through the air. She even knocked another person out...before they knocked her out that is. Before Mole had even seen it coming, a blade was shallowly dragged across the base of her neck, not causing any fatal wounds, but making her body shut down in effort to slow her heart-rate and blood-flow._

_Mole fell to the floor with a thud as the world blackened around her. Right before her vision died, she saw one of them men rushing off in the direction Hiccup went._

_(Thistle)_

_Thistle never revealed to anyone what went through her mind after the attack started but before she finally lost consciousness. Even though she would likely be forgiven for it, it still wasn't something you just reveal to even your closest friend or the one you love. _

_When the hands covered her eyes, she jumped and squealed, thinking at first that Touch had surprised her and was preparing to lift her away into the chilly night for a random, exciting flight. She wondered briefly at Touch's attention – she had only sat with him a couple times, but he'd suddenly appeared so firmly, flying her down from the mountain, lighting a fire for warmth. Hiccup had mentioned that she was training him, and Thistle wondered if she was – simply by needing him to show up. This was laughable, once she considered that she had needed Hiccup for twelve years and he hadn't been there. Too bad __**he**__ wasn't a dragon._

_The hands, however, had soon pulled her backwards flat onto the cool, soft grass. Her fishing pole splashed into the water, sending ripples across the silvery surface, the bait on the end still tempting any nearby fish to become trapped forever. Thistle's wide green eyes outlined the silhouette against the fading moon, and a grumble of thunder overcame her sharp cry of surprise. She didn't recognize any of the armor or even the skin color of the human grabbing at her. How could anyone become that dark in this weather? Had they painted their skin to hide at night?_

_It was then that Thistle did the thing that shamed her. The human was reaching for her throat, trying to subdue her and prevent her from struggling. Thistle made it easy, dropping her hands to her sides, closing her eyes, and going limp. Far from playing dead, she was more remembering her earlier desire to disappear into the shadows. What better way to disappear into the shadows than to become one? For a brief moment, Thistle Snapvine gave over complete control. Had the creature attempted to kill her, she would have offered no resistance._

_As it was, the human merely bound her hands and roughly pulled her to her feet, spitting out a language she did not recognize. Thistle allowed herself to be pulled from the ravine of memories, up the rocks and into the woods of Berk. She didn't say anything, refusing to scream or fight back. She sensed the incredulous look given her by her captor, but didn't respond._

_Then, as they headed in the direction of the ocean, Thistle heard a sound that snapped her out of her reverie. It was simple - a furious roar of a Night Fury trying to protect a village. Toothless. Touch. It could have been either one of them. But it did the trick. For just a moment, Thistle doubted her actions. She doubted her desire to just give up and disappear without a single fight, a single goodbye. _

_She lashed out. Her captor, not expecting the until-now-submissive Viking to fight back, took the blow surprisingly well, only falling to the side a little before catching herself on a tree. Thistle lit out in the direction of the roar, shouting at the top of her lungs: "Stone! Touch! __**Help me!**__"_

_Then, a crushing weight came down on her, her mouth filled with dirt, and a sharp pain on the back of her head heralded a sudden, deep unconsciousness._

(Hiccup)

The next morning, Hiccup accidently woke up late. He quickly fed Toothless, and hurried across the village to the hospital hut. He hoped Stone wouldn't be too busy, he really wanted to let her know what happened to Mole. All of the healthy Viking's rushed around excitedly, eagerly preparing and awaiting the return of the hunting men. Hiccup wasn't looking forward to his dad returning, Stoick would be thrilled by the new challenge by no doubt and he had a bad feeling about that.

As he approached, Hiccup noticed Courage sitting outside the hut, staring through a window worriedly. After telling Toothless to join Courage, Hiccup crossed over to the door. He could hear slightly muffled but still loud noises coming from behind the door and hesitated before knocking. Instantly, Stone's voice could be heard loudly as she stomped toward the door.

"...can't have five seconds to straighten up in peace before someone else comes whining to the door! How Mole could do this as a living, I'll never know!"She wrenched the door open, prepared to yell at whoever it was, but her anger dissipated when her eyes met Hiccup's. Stone's hair was falling from its pony tail and stuck out in odd directions, her clothes had blood splattered across them rather then the usual paint and hung limping on her frame, and her eyes were bloodshot, the dark marks around them were darker then Hiccup had ever seen.

A sigh ripped through her throat and she pinched the bridge of her nose, leaning against the door frame. She looked terrible and exhausted.

"...Yes, Hiccup?" Stone's voice was tiny and sad.

"Um, are you busy? I wanted to talk to you about what happened yesterday. But if you're doing something important I understand-"

"No, no, come in, there's no one else here," she cut him off and opened the door wider for him.

Glancing around the room, Hiccup realized the noises he had heard were empty bottles being carelessly placed in a pile, along with empty salve containers. Stone took a seat on an empty patient bed pushed up to a wall and gestured for him to sit beside her. She leaned heavily onto the wall and sighed, her shoulders drooping and eyes lolling shut.

"Stone, when was the last time you slept?"

"Um...yesterday when I passed out for thirty minutes," her voice held a slight question, like that hadn't been what she had expected him to say.

"That was a long time ago. Why don't you sleep now?" Hiccup suggested. As much as he wanted to talk to her, it could wait.

"No, it's okay. I want to know what happened." As Stone spoke, her body slid across the wall until her head landed on his shoulder. Hiccup doubted that she had done it on purpose and she didn't even seem to notice her change in position.

"Stone, you look terrible and completely exhausted, you should sleep while you can," his voice was soft but slightly commanding. Staying up as long as she had couldn't be good for her health.

"Hiccup-it's fine, I'll...sleep..later..." Stone's eyes slowly shut and that was all it took. Within seconds, she was fast asleep, curled up on Hiccup's shoulder.

Hiccup chuckled slightly, wrapping and arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a more comfortable position. He wasn't sure if she'd sleep very long considering her insomnia, or if she'd be knocked out for hours from exhaustion, but he could wait.

It wasn't twenty minutes later that Stone started acting weird. First, her hands started twitching and her blunt, blood encrusted, nails tore at her palms. Her entire body then began to shake and her breath starting coming in as short and painful gasps. Not sure what was happening, Hiccup began to panic and tried waking her up by shaking her shoulder, but it made no difference since her body was shaking anyway.

Practically ready to call for help, Hiccup remembered what Stone had done the night _he_ had had a nightmare. She had lessened his pain, and then hugged him. He still didn't really understand why, but it was worth a shot. He reached out and grabbed her wrists, forcing them apart. Then, he carefully gripped her shoulders and steered her body so he could hug her.

At first she starting shaking even harder, but then she relaxed. Her breathing returned to normal and her hands stopped twitching. Stone's eyes suddenly snapped open and she groaned, struggling slighting in Hiccup's hold. Hiccup quickly released her and she backed away so she could look him in the face. It was only then that Hiccup realized she had been crying.

"Thanks," Stone mumbled as she wiped at her eyes.

"No problem. Truthfully, I have no idea how that worked," he joked, hoping to lighten her up. She chuckled quietly and gave him a small smile.

"Hugs are the best medicine. I didn't just hug you for no reason that night, you weirdo," she playfully punched his shoulder.

"So, what exactly was that?"

"That was me having a nightmare. You aren't the only one who suffers from them Hiccup, but your's will hopefully go away soon," Stone sighed.

"What was your nightmare about?" Hiccup asked, genuinely curious. Stone cringed slightly, like she had hoped he wouldn't ask, and stood up.

"It...was about the day my parent's died," while she spoke, Stone gathered up materials.

"How often do you have that dream?" he asked worriedly and again she cringed.

"I alternate between dreaming of them, of Boulder, and of my headaches. Their dream is the most frequent though,"she sat a bowl of water and a rag on the table beside the bed and crossed the room again.

"Stone, their death wasn't your fault, you need to let it go," Hiccup said without thinking. At his words Stone stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned toward him, giving him a weird look.

"I...I never told you it was."

Hiccup then remembered that it wasn't Stone who told him that, but Mole. And she had told him not to say anything about it.

_You just dug your own grave, Hiccup._

"Oh-uh-eh-you see, uh...Why don't we talk about this later! I wanted to tell you what happened to Ms. Heinrickson!" Hiccup desperately hoped Stone would let it go for now and forget, but highly doubted it.

Stone's strange look turned into an angry and piercing glare but she turned and continued what she was doing.

"Whatever,' she grumbled darkly. "Just tell me what happened."

"Before I start, what are you doing?" Hiccup asked as she sat down on the floor in front of his feet with the water and rag from the table, a container of salve, and some bandages.

"Well, I figure since you're going to be here a while, I might as well treat your leg." This provoked a small whimper from Hiccup before he could stop it. Stone's ears perked at the sound and she looked up at him.

"Hiccup, it won't hurt. Even if it did, I can stop anytime you need me to," her bloodshot and dark rimmed eyes sparkled with reassurance. He nodded and held his leg out to her.

With one hand she carefully held his leg, and used the other to roll his pant leg up. Stone glared at his prosthesis with hatred as she unstrapped it.

"I know that without this you wouldn't be able to walk, but this thing is a monstrosity." Hiccup chuckled at her but began to grow nervous as she unwrapped the gauze around his stump.

As if sensing his nervousness, she reached up and pushed his chin up, forcing his eyes away.

"Don't watch. So, what _did_ happen yesterday? I'm dying to know." Stone was trying her best to distract him and he happily went with it.

"Well, I was upset because I couldn't find Toothless and was standing on top of my roof shouting for him when Ms. Heinrickson showed up. She offered to come with me to look because she was afraid my leg couldn't handle it or something." Hiccup noted that one of Stone's fingers was rubbing small circles onto his stump and that he found it calming. Her hands were smooth and were gentle as she dabbed the wet rag against the raw flesh. Without really realizing it, he had moved his head and was watching her work.

"So we went looking, shouting at the top of our lungs for a long time until I started to give up. She-she started talking about you a bit," Stone's head lowered and her eyes darkened. "...which I'll tell you about later, and she said something about giving me her permission or something-"

"She what?" Stone practically shrieked, her eyes wide with horrified shock. Her cheeks and neck were quickly turning red.

"Mole said I had her permission but we were attacked before I could ask what that meant. What _does _that mean?"

Stone opened her mouth to reply but all that came out was a choking sound. Squeezing her eyes shut, she swallowed hard before speaking through clenched teeth.

"I-I'll tell you l-later." She quickly returned to dabbing his stump, which Hiccup took as an invitation to continue.

"Ooookaaay, well, maybe seven Roman warriors suddenly appeared out of no where and started to encircle us. But before the circle could close completely, Mole suddenly swung me around and launched me out of the opening, screaming at me to run."

"Really? That was brave of her," Stone looked up at him and narrowed her eyes slightly. She reached up and flicked his forehead with a slight smirk. "Hey, I told you not to watch. Bad Hiccup," she giggled quietly and pushed his head back up.

"Sorry," he smiled, "but yeah, that's what she did. I started to run slightly but I was worried so I kept looking back at her until she shouted at me to protect myself and the village and to not worry about her. I haven't a clue how, but she actually knocked out someone and some of them were actually crying out in pain."

"What did it look like she was doing?" Stone's attention was split between Hiccup's words and his stump but she was obviously listening. Stone stood and crossed the room, washing the rag and the dried blood from her nails in a pail of water before returning. Before doing anything else she looked up so Hiccup could demonstrate.

"It...Honestly, it looked like she was poking him," Hiccup reached out and poked Stone's shoulder in a way that he hoped looked like Ms. Heinrickson. Chuckling slightly, she pushed Hiccup's hand away and his head up again.

"She was probably pressing nerves. So what happened after you ran?" Hiccup could hear Stone's fingers dipping in the salve.

"Pressing nerves?"

"The things in your body that make you feel. If you push certain ones you can cause pain or knock people out. People from the new worlds taught us that," Stone's fingers gently spread the salve around.

"Oh. So, I started running the best I could with my leg until Toothless finally found me and we went back to see if we could help her, but they were already gone."

Stone made a soft "hm" noise before wrapping his stump in fresh bandages.

"That should help."

"Thanks Stone," Hiccup smiled at her as she put the supplies away. She returned the smile slightly, but something seemed wrong.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he strapped his prosthesis on again.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she grumbled.

"How long was I asleep?" Stone suddenly asked.

"Um, twenty minutes maybe?"

"Gods, really? It felt like much longer. Much, much longer. But that explains why I'm still so tired," Stone sighed.

"How did it feel long?"

"In the dream hours past. But I don't I don't want to talk about it," she pulled up a chair and sat across from Hiccup in it.

"What did Mole mean when she gave me her per-"

"Well I'm really tired Hiccup, why don't you come back later!" Stone quickly interrupted him, her face turning pink. Hiccup crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a hard look.

"Stone, what aren't you telling me?" Her face turned a darker shade of pink.

"N-nothing, really," Stone tried again but when she saw Hiccup's glare she sighed and looked away. "It's not that hard to figure out," she grumbled. Hiccup thought for a moment before it clicked. Stone didn't have a dad. Ms. Heinrickson was the closest thing to family Stone had on Berk. Hiccup had shown interest in Stone, and Mole had given him her permission. Her permission to court her. Hiccup hadn't even gotten Astrid's father's approval, Astrid approved and that was all he had personally needed. Hiccup felt heat climbing his own neck and into his cheeks.

They sat there staring red-faced at each other when the door crashed open.

(Thistle)

She awoke to a slow but all-too-familiar roll. Adrenaline burst through her system and she lurched violently, trying to leap to her feet. Chafing pains exploded through her arms and legs and the heavy metallic clank of chains echoed through the empty, dimly-lit space. Thistle turned her head left and right, fear very much overpowering everything else in this situation. Her quick, terrified breaths filled the enclosed space, but her eyes adjusted slowly, normally, to the soft streams of light flickering in. It was near dawn, from the redness of the light, and forming shapes in the haze took more practice and time than Thistle wanted to give. But her panicked breathing had alerted others to her presence, and she actually shrieked when the voice floated out of the darkness. "Thistle? Is that you?"

"Who are you?" Thistle asked in a voice high with panic. "Where am I? What's going on?"

"It's me, Mole."

"Mole?" Now Thistle was completely confused. She didn't know anyone named Mole. "I don't know you! Tell me where I am!"

The voice let out an exasperated sigh. "Ms. Heinrickson, Thistle. My name is Mole Henrickson."

Thistle registered the information only a few seconds before another loud shout from the other side of the boat made her jump again. It was in a language she didn't know, in a voice so rough that she literally flinched away from it. Her eyes were almost completely adjusted now, and she took stock of the world around her.

Sure enough, she was chained in the hold of a large ship made of thick, solid wood. Light streamed down through a thin opening in the ceiling above her, and she heard the choral howl of at least thirty men in unison and the creak of oars. There were three others chained with her - Mole on the other side of the room, and two more further down. One of them had the same dark skin as Thistle's captor, but the other one was fair. Only the dark-skinned one was male, and Thistle's heart sank. "Roman slave ship," she murmured.

"Yes," Mole sounded surprised that Thistle knew. "How did you know that?"

"Stories." There was no use in being silent now. "I have heard stories from some of the men."

An otherwordly scream rang through the air then, making the four of them cringe terribly. Thistle and Mole, however, knew the scream for what it was, and they looked at each other in horror. "Dragons," Mole moaned. "They got some of the dragons."

At that moment, the top of the ceiling sheared off.

(Tuffnut)

Tuffnut lay flat on the black rocks overlooking the apricot sand leading to the water's edge. Flush with the ground, only his head poking over the edge, his long white-blonde hair stood out starkly – but perfectly camouflaged as old or dead vines. His eyes tracked the movement of the three ships below, scattered gamely over a few yards' radius, hiding in the cove between two of Berk's largest rocks. Only the twitch of his fingers and feet showed his seething anger. The bandages on his arm were red with blood from the wound he kept irritating, and a dull ache flaring occasionally into a sharp pain would make him hiss softly. The pain annoyed him – and it did a good job at keeping him from thinking. Of course, he was having trouble thinking to begin with. As much as he kept trying to come up with a Fiendishly Clever Plan to rescue Ms. Heinrickson, the dragons, and Thistle, he only kept coming up with Really Bad Ideas.

He hated admitting it to himself, but Hiccup was the strategist for the Vikings of Berk. Tuffnut was too much like Snotlout. "Why read," the boy had said one night, "when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Tuffnut had laughingly agreed and even proceeded to make fun of Fishlegs, who studied obsessively about dragons and was almost as bad as Hiccup when it came to technical jargon. Now, however, he was feeling that bite – because he had promised himself he would help put Thistle Snapvine back together, and he couldn't get to her. At all.

He blinked dust from his eyes and tried to resist the siren call of sleep. After Stone had finished binding his wounds last night, he had made a show of going back to his house and going to bed – but seconds after Ruffnut had fallen asleep, Tuffnut had leaped up and stolen out of the house, beginning an island-wide search of Berk for the missing members of his life. Now, late in the morning, he had finally located the ships and was stubbornly working on an attack plan that involved rushing them singlehandedly, breaking the dragon cage, and using the panic that would cause to free the two trapped women.

In other words, a Really Bad Idea.

From what little he had heard of Roman ships, he understood that the big ship was a warship, and the One in Charge sat there. The littlest one was a scout ship, and had likely dropped off the people who had attacked Berk. The one in the middle, with the dragon cage, had to be the slave ship. Which, he had no doubt, was where Thistle and Ms. Heinrickson were. The problem was, it was right inbetween the other two ships, and there was no way to get to it without being seen.

So Tuffnut lay there, staring mindlessly down at the ships, willing Thistle to appear on the deck so he would at least know she was alive.

He'd tried so hard to keep her after the fight. For a few brief moments, she had looked directly into his eyes and he'd pretty much fallen all over again. Any doubt he'd had about the relationship he'd been fighting to win over the years had faded with that one contact, that one realization that she'd broken through her own wall just to look at him. Tuffnut liked the idea of hope. Hiccup had taught it to him, and now Thistle was proving it to him.

The sun overhead was nice and warm. Tuffnut felt his head lowering and his thoughts drifting. He jerked his head hard and blinked before ramming his head hard into the ground. The resulting pain made him dizzy, then woke him up. I have to keep thinking. She needs me. They need me. No one else knows...

Two things happened very quickly.

One: a very angry voice behind him said: "WHAT are you doing here?"

Two: Thistle appeared on the deck of the slave ship.

(Thistle)

Thistle let out a shriek and tried to shy away from the light as it poured into the hold from the now-open door, but the heavy chains pinned her to the ground. Gentle footsteps tapped against the floor and a body blocked some of the painful glare, but it wasn't long before Thistle was gazing into the piercing blue eyes of an olive-skinned beauty decked in tough-looking animal skin, with a single gold dot in the top of her arched eyebrow. Her skin almost glimmered in the morning, and her long black hair said elegantly atop her head. She alighted atop the floor and looked at all of them with eye far wiser than anything Thistle had ever seen. Despite her situation, Thistle could not help but feel a measure of respect - and recognition - for this woman. Was she the one in charge? How did Thistle know who she was?

When the woman spoke, her voice was husky and rich, full of power - and completely incomprehensible. Thistle stared at her blankly, glancing at Mole, whose eyes had narrowed. The white-skinned woman at the other end of the boat answered her, and the tall woman glared at her, spitting out a sentence that reddened the other's face. She looked away, and the tall woman looked down at Thistle.

"Who is doctor?" she asked in broken Norse. Thistle blinked in amazement, realizing that the other woman actually knew her language.

"I'm not a doctor," she answered barely above a whisper. She wondered about revealing Mole as a doctor, but that didn't seem right. Mole should reveal herself. It wasn't for Thistle to reveal any secrets.

"Ah?" the woman swung a hand, impacting Thistle's face. Thistle twisted away in pain. "Ah! _Who is doctor?_" She swung her hand back, hitting her again.

"Stop!" Thistle shouted back, tears coming to her eyes again. _Weak-minded Gronckle_, Astrid shouted in her head. "Stop hitting me!"

"_Who is doctor?_" Smack.

"I'm the doctor!" Mole yelled.

The woman stopped slapping Thistle, casting surprised eyes at the thick-haired Viking straining against her bonds. "I'm the doctor," Mole insisted again. "Stop hurting her."

The woman pointed at Thistle. "You are fish." She leaned in, her breath not nearly as beautiful as her body, and the golden dot in her eyebrow appearing to be a piece of metal hiding infected flesh. "A dead fish." She let her arms flop for a moment before stomping over to Mole. Thistle, reeling from the stench, slowly began to realize where she had seen the woman before. _She's the one who grabbed me. The one who I almost let..._

She shook her head and tried to pay attention to what Mole and her captor were talking about. Mole had the same exasperated look on her face that she normally wore with patients who wouldn't do what she told them or tried to play down their pain - the face that said 'I'm-talking-to-an-idiot.' Her bravery empowered Thistle a little. Only a little.

"The dragons we captured hurt us. No one knows dragon medicine. But you do."

"Let her go and I'll help you," Mole replied.

"No!" The woman drew back and slapped Mole across the face. "The spineless one will play later. You first."

"Let her go and I'll help you."

The woman's eyes flared and she rose up to an impressive height. The sun caught on the gold metal in her head and glinted. The sharp light cut Thistle's eyes and she whimpered, turning her head away.

Instantly, she wished she hadn't. In three steps, the woman was at her side, metal clinking as she wrestled with the locks binding Thistle to the wall. Another man appeared then in the hole in the ceiling - a white-skinned male with long black hair, dressed even simpler than the woman. He thumped down into the hold. Rather than feeling a strange sense of relief as she was unlocked from the wall, Thistle's heart crashed into her feet. There was no way she could return to Berk without Mole. "No!" she blurted. "I can't leave without you. Stone will never forgive me."

"Tell her where I am," Mole replied, "and if she doesn't come get me, I'll turn her Valhalla into Hel."

"No one free," the woman hissed firmly, and shoved Thistle - still bound but free of the wall - to the foot of the stairs. Thistle, unable to move her arms or legs, fell forward into the man's waiting arms. He let out a licentious chuckle and stuck his nose in her hair before wrapping a fist through it and holding her tight. Thistle whimpered in terror and Mole's face reddened in fury. She threw her head at the tall woman freeing her and received a fist to the nose for her troubles. The bonds held tight as Mole fell away from the wall and was dragged across the floor to the stairs. Thistle's head was twisted away as the man pulled her up onto the deck of the ship.

Great sails stretched away into the distance, and she could immediately tell they were docked in the cove between two of Berk's biggest rocks. Almost thirty half-clad men sat chained to oars, bent over them in pain or exhaustion. The sun baked their multicolored skin and made rivulets of sweat pour over lined muscles. Thistle stared in amazement at the spread before her - people of so many colors all stuck in place as prisoners of the Roman legion. Before her, the great battering ram of the ship stuck out into the water, a threatening lance prepared to hull any ship that got near it. Even more surprising were the bits of metal pounded into the ship. Viking ships tended towards the wooden descent, lined with wooden-and-metal shields, some of their highest masts held in place by chains but the amount of metal actually on the ship very limited. _These ships can float with metal in them?_ Hiccup would have a party with that...and Stone would make the sails of animal skin and bright colors, not these simple, threatening coat-of-arms. And Thistle...would watch.

Remembering why she had allowed herself to be captured in the first place, Thistle looked away from Berk and down at the deck of the ship. If not for Mole, she would be able to just escape completely. Cooperate with whatever they wanted her to do, make herself into a tool for following orders, and that would be life. She wouldn't have to worry about hurting anyone ever again.

"You heal us," the woman's voice was clear and strong, and Thistle looked up to see a couple of men laying on the deck, burned and bleeding. They moaned in pain, turning their heads this way and that as though delirious. "Or she dies."

Thistle had enough time to think _what_ before the man holding her suddenly lifted her into the air. She let out a piercing scream as the chain around her arm snapped around one of the masts holding the ship in the air and then cracked against her back. The man grabbed the chain, pulled it down against a strut in the deck, and tied it there with a piece of rope.

Thistle hung two feet off of the deck, unable to kick or move - and then the man who tied her up produced a whip.

Mole's face contorted in fury. "She's an innocent girl!" she screamed at the ship in general, who all turned their heads to see the Viking child strapped up.

"And you not helping people who need it," the woman replied before nodding.

The man flicked the whip - just a casual twitch. But the sting of it sliced through Thistle's body worse than a dragon bite. She cut off the scream that bit her throat, but it echoed off of the stone around the ships. Her mind could barely comprehend the pain, almost didn't want to move by it. Only a deep shuddering breath kept her conscious - and even then she didn't know why she did it. The woman's earlier words rang in her mind. _Dead fish._

_Am I really going to die?_

Mole, however, threw herself against her bindings. "Let her down and I'll help you!"

"No."

_Fwish-snap._

The second bite was worse than the first, hitting already-open skin. Thistle switched and screamed. Astrid's voice. _Weak-minded Gronckle._

_I'm not weak! It hurts!_

"All right! All right, I'll help! Just stop hurting her!"

"Hurry."

_Fwish-snap._

Thistle had to suck in a breath to scream - but no sound came out of her that time. The pain was too great. Instead, she heard Astrid again. _She needs to grow a spine._

_I can't. Hiccup's not here to help me do it._

_What?_

Mole had knelt beside the first man, face as red as her hair, which was sticking up in all directions and blowing in the cold wind. Cold wind. Hot sun. The roll of the ship and the pain in her back. Thistle knew she was overloaded, slowly shutting down. _Stay awake. You have to stay awake or they'll hit you again._

Mole's voice shook - with either pain or rage or tears, Thistle couldn't tell. "This is just a fever. He needs to get out of the sun. The cut is easy to mend..."

"No talk. Just do."

_Fwish-snap._

Tuffnut spoke. _You know she's not very good._

_You helped me to be. I can't do it alone._ Had that been just yesterday? Her arms ached tremendously from holding her weight, and dimly she felt the drip of her own blood down her legs.

_You have done it alone. For Gods know how many years. Now I'm here to help you._ Stone.

Delirious from pain and fear, Thistle's eyes drifted shut as the pain around her mounted. She heard Mole rustling about, calling for poultices and water. Pained cries around her came from the men whose wounds Mole dressed with saltwater, and low thuds came from those who staggered to their feet and rumbled below for shade. The ticklish trickle of her blood kept her conscious - it made her itch insanely and she twitched in response, trying to make it stop. She didn't even feel the next two whip strikes. But she heard everything, including the screaming inside of her own head.

_Dead fish._

_You are Thistle, the wonderful young Viking I am proud to call my best friend._

_I haven't spoken to you in twelve years._

_Weak-minded Gronckle._

_I'm helping two friends this village has forgotten._

_She needs to grow a spine._

_You know she's not very good._

_Mommy? Daddy? Is...anyone there at all?_

Eventually, she did fade into blackness. There, in the darkness, Touch came to her, lighting a small fire at her feet, warming her in the chilly Berk wind. He folded his wings and gave her a crooked smile very similar to Hiccup's. Then, he sat beside her and looked out at the starry, empty night.

(Stone)

Suddenly the door opened and the couple looked over to see Astrid standing in the doorway, her own face getting redder by the second. Astrid clenched her teeth and looked anywhere but at them. Everyone was silent for a moment, each trying to control the blood in their faces when Astrid finally spoke.

"Have either of you seen Tuffnut? He's missing." Another knife in Stone's heart.

"Missing? He wasn't taken by the Roman's yesterday was he?" Hiccup asked.

"No, I saw him yesterday, I treated him for...for an arrow wound," Stone fought to remember exactly where the arrow was but since she had treated so many arrow wounds, she couldn't remember.

"We think he might have gone looking for the ships," Astrid quickly had dropped back into her cold nature and was now content to glare at Stone.

"Graah, that's exactly what I told him _not_ to do!" Stone pulled at some of her fallen hair angrily.

"Some villagers are splitting up and looking for him, and we could use all the people we can," with that, Astrid stomped out of the hut, slamming the door behind her.

"We have to go with them!" Hiccup grabbed Stone's hand and pulled her swiftly out the door and toward Courage and Toothless

"H-hiccup, I can't really fly yet!" Stone squeaked.

"I saw you flying last night in the rain and chaos, you'll do fine!"Hiccup encouraged as he pushed her toward Courage. Stone looked worriedly up at Courage who smiled back at her. Swallowing her fear she fixed her ponytail so all her hair was pulled away from her face and awkwardly climbed onto Courage's back. Sitting where she had last night, Stone shot Hiccup once last worried look before the dragons took off together.

Courage turned toward the left while Toothless went to the right, instantly splitting them apart. After the moment of crippling fear was over, Stone found the enjoyable sensation of wind blowing all around her delightful.

Flying close to the ground, Stone scanned for anything that shouldn't belong in nature or contrasting colors. Snotlout passed her, coming from the way she was going, and shouted at her to stop being the idiot she was and to turn around. Stone put a big show of ignoring him and continued on her way. Something told her that it would have been easy for Snotlout to overlook Tuffnut hiding someplace.

Just as Stone was about to give up on that area and move on, she saw it. At first glance Tuffnut's white blond hair appeared to be just another dead brush but with closer examination, it was lighter then dead plants usually were and shiner. Shouting to Courage, she pointed him out and he carefully swooped down behind the Viking silently. As quietly as she could, Stone slid off Courage's back and stalked up to him.

"WHAT are you doing here?" she demanded. Tuffnut nearly jumped out of his skin and whirled to face her.

"I should beat you all the way to Valhalla for scaring us like this! And look what you've done to your shoulder it's probably infected," Stone scolded him half-heartedly.

"Shhh! For one, you could never even touch me," Stone scoffed, "and two the Romans are down there and Thistle just came on board!" Tuffnut whispered angrily.

"She what?" Stone scrambled down onto all fours so she could hide beside him and watch. Her expression was a mix of horror and fury. Who were these people to think that they could push her friends around like that? Mole and Thistle were her family and they were being tortured and forced to work for the enemy right before Stone's eyes. Her hand was clutched in a fist so tight that her nails broke the skin. Anger and despair filled tears poured down her checks. A glance in Tuffnut's direction showed that he was very angry and looked like he was about to jump down there.

When Thistle finally passed out, Tuffnut started to move toward the edge but Stone grabbed his shoulder.

"What do you think you're doing? You're going to get yourself killed!" Stone growled.

"I'd rather try and_ do_ something then watch and _cry_!" he hissed back. Stone wiped at her tears angrily but only succeeded in smearing her hand's blood on her face. Tuffnut started at in with wide eyes.

"I'm crying because those two are my family Tuffnut! I want more then anything in the world to go down there and rescue them, but I know that rushing down there like a egotistic dragon hatchling is only going to get me full of arrows and dead! I don't think they want either of us dead anymore then they want themselves dead Tuffnut!" Stone's eyes practically radiated fury and she shook Tuffnut several times. He nodded quickly and fearfully at her anger. Stone sighed at the frightened look Tuff gave her and swallowed as much of her fury and sadness as possible. Brushing her tears away, Stone slowly crawled backwards, away from the cliff side, and pulled Tuffnut along with her.

"We have to get back to the village and let them know where the ships are. If we're quick enough, maybe we can have a plan of action by tomorrow," Stone kept her voice as steady as she could.

"But we can't just leave them there! She might be…" Tuffnut argued.

"Tuffnut, remember what I said last night about being able to wait?" Stone pushed away his words. She couldn't think them. Especially if they were true "If we wait to actually have a _plan_ and a _fighting chance_ then we'll be more likely to save them, and less likely to have even more arrow wounds." As if to remind him of what he had done to his wound, she gave it a sharp prod and he released a hiss of pain.

"We have to go back. I'll treat your wound again but you better be more careful, and don't be surprised if you are either hugged to death, or beat to death. We were all pretty upset by you leaving," Stone advised.

"It upset everyone? Even you?" he asked with surprise coloring his voice.

"Of course it did! You're our friend, we don't want you kidnapped like Thistle and Mole! And my name might be Stone but that doesn't mean I'm made of it. I care about my friends," Stone glared slightly. Her name was good for a Viking, but not for a sensitive painter. Tuff gave her a smile and they started to walk back toward Courage.

As he walked, Tuffnut wobbled and his eyes were half shut. When he started to fall, Stone was prepared and grabbed him underneath his arms before he could hit the ground.

"You didn't sleep at all last night did you?" she sighed, noting the slight dark rings around his own eyes. Tuffnut chuckled and shook his head.

"I'm guessing you didn't either?" he asked pointing to Stone's eyes.

"I've passed out twice but that's about it," Stone stood Tuffnut back up and helped him climb onto Courage.

"Hang on tight, I don't have a saddle yet and we don't want you falling asleep and slipping." Stone's words weren't very encouraging, but had the slight humor in them that Tuff knew she was kidding. Sitting behind her, he gripped her shoulders with both hands and they flew back.

Once they were out of the ships earshot, Stone told Courage to roar. She found his loud, inhuman roar to be absolutely terrifying, but again swallowed her emotions. The other teens heard the roar and flew toward them, yelling angry and relieved words at Tuffnut. The boy behind her back absorbed their relief happily and practically swelled with the joy of people caring about him.

Hiccup caught Stone's eye and gave her a worried look, obviously seeing the tear tracks on her face. He shouted, suggesting they land so it'd be easier to talk and everyone agreed. Tuff barely set his feet on the ground before Ruff had tackled him to the ground. It wasn't really obvious if she was trying to kill him or hug him but that was normal so the group ignored them.

"Stone what happened?" Hiccup asked once they were both off their dragons.

"Tuff found the Roman ships," Stone knew full well that wasn't what he had meant, but the answer worked for now.

"Really? How did that idiot find them?" Snotlout asked. Stone gave him a small glare but otherwise ignored him.

"They're by the docks behind the cliff that's covered in rocks. Tuffnut was hiding in the rocks when I found him."

"And you were so happy you found him you started crying? Better watch out Hiccup, your _girlfriend_ is already cheating on you," Astrid sneered.

"No, that's not what happened! Gods, you're a brat aren't you?" Stone glared.

"So, what _did _happen?" Hiccup stepped in before Astrid could retort. Stone sighed and looked away.

"T-they were forcing Mole to heal their worriers by torturing Thistle. They had her c-chained up and were w-whipping her," Stone's voice started breaking as she felt the tears coming again. Hiccup enveloped her in a hug and Stone silently fought to keep the tears in. Holding in as much emotion as she had today couldn't be good for her, but she didn't care at the moment.

"We have to make a plan to save them," Stone announced once Hiccup released her.

"Alright," Hiccup agreed, "once Ruff and Tuff and done...doing whatever they're doing." Stone looked over and giggled. The twins were strange creatures, with even stranger displays of affection.

"Stupid…stupid…stupid…" Ruff couldn't seem to finish her sentence and had taken to punching Tuff in the shoulder at the end of every word. Tuff threw himself around under her weight and finally managed to shove her off before climbing back to his feet. He grabbed Ruff as she threw herself at him again and gave her a little shake. "Hey! I'm okay. Now we need to focus." Ruff tried to punch him again and he grabbed her wrist. "Focus. Hiccup. Thistle…they whipped her. They were whipping her. She might be…" His voice caught suddenly and his face reddened, taking in a deep, shuddering breath. "We can't just sit around here. They had the doctor healing their warriors, which means there are more people to fight. We can't wait. We have to go back. Right now."

"Tuffnut, we need a plan first," Hiccup countered.

"…which is what I told you," Stone added firmly, but her own stomach was sinking. Thistle had gone limp and Stone thought she had passed out, but…there really was no telling. Mole hadn't been allowed near the girl to see. And Tuff was clearly thinking it, which wasn't helping his situation at all.

""We rush the ships!" Tuff shouted, making Ruff jump. He wavered on his feet, eyes blazing, slowly losing consciousness and only his anger keeping him awake. "I promised," he murmured so low that only Ruff and Stone (who was nearest), could hear. "I promised I'd heal her, and I'm not standing to do nothing…"

"What?" Hiccup asked

"Nothing!" Tuff shouted again.

Stone had had enough. "Ruff, _make_ him take a nap. We'll update him later."

"If you think I'm going to…" Tuff began to growl at her but Ruff, only too happy to oblige, knocked him on the head. He dropped to the ground.

Stone looked back at Hiccup, who looked at the gathered teens and nodded. "The Great Hall. Ten minutes."

**Silver2018: I know it's been forever, but I was on vacation and without a computer for a week! Forgive me! (By the way, anyone who lives in Minnesota/Wisconsin – your cheese curds are FABULOUS). Also, just cause I feel silly, I'd like to throw this out there: anyone make music videos? I got some funny ideas for you!**

'**My Hands' for Hiccup and Toothless (okay, not so funny)**

'**The Stroke' for HTTYD in general**

'**Poker Face' for Toothless**

'**Remember the Name' for Hiccup**

**I'm sure I'll think of more, but some of those just seem SO funny.**

**To all our lovely readers, THANK YOU for giving us your time! We do ask that you review our story though! While we know you read, we don't know what you think – and what you think may actually appear in later chapters, or help us out! Reviews appreciated!**


	9. Note

Prisoner of Pain - Sorry for the long wait everyone, but it's not over. Me and Silver2018 haven't been able to talk for a very long time, and I can't write the story myself. I did write all I could for both Stone and Thistle's parts, but I'm not Thistle's creator and can't make decisions for her. Silver2018 has received a massive writers block for this story, but I heard she was doing really well with a different story of hers, so maybe it will go away soon. Feel free to check it out if you want.

Sorry if I don't respond to reviews, I tend to forget, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate them! I'd also like to say, I really hate Stone's character now. I was stupid and didn't define her a whole lot before I started so she's pretty badly made. My excuse, I guess, is that she wants people to_ understand _her pain, but she doesn't want them to help her because she thinks it's weak for a Viking to need that kind of help. But she needs the help so much that she's willing to let others if they offer.

I'm done giving out excuses, again I'm sorry, but this story may not be continued anytime soon, if ever. Sorry.

- Prisoner of Pain


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